“The more AI we use, the more computing capacity we need,” states Kean Birch, director of the Institute for Technoscienes & Society at the University of York in Toronto, Canada. “The hunger for energy will lead to rising energy prices for everyone.” In fact, the operators of large data centers are already thinking about using not only solar and wind farms, but also modular nuclear reactors, such as those at TerraPower from Bellevue, US, which is supported by Bill Gates Washington or NuScale Power from Portland, Oregon.
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As if the challenges weren’t big enough, there’s also the expense of AI talent. At Open AI in San Francisco, engineers are expected to earn an average of up to $800,000 a year. There is also a signing bonus that is often over $100,000.