Plus: The CDC is in chaos
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Google is still failing to provide a complete picture of AI energy usage
–Casey Crownhart
Google announced today that the average query made to Gemini uses 0.24 watt hours of electricity. This is about as much electricity as it takes to run a microwave for a second. Most days, I use the microwave much longer than one second.
It’s great to see major AI companies being more transparent about the energy they use for each query. Some people use this figure to say that AI energy consumption is not a concern. This is not what we should be focusing on. Why?
The article below is taken from The Spark, MIT Technology Review’s weekly climate newsletter. Subscribe to The Spark and receive the newsletter every Wednesday. Sign up for our newsletter .
If you are interested in AI’s energy footprint, MIT Technology Review released Power Hungry earlier this year. Comprehensive series on AI, energy and sustainability .
AI Hype Index: AI designed antibiotics are promising
It’s not always easy to separate hyped up fiction from reality when it comes to AI. We created the AI Hype Index, a quick and easy summary that tells you everything about the current state of AI. Here’s the latest edition.
Must-read books
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
The White House fired the Director of the CDC
Susan Monarez refuses to be quiet. (WP $)
+ Monarez and RFK Jr. allegedly clashed over the vaccine policy. (NYT $)
+ Just last month, the Senate confirmed her to this position. (The Guardian)
+ The US vaccine consensus has splintered. (Vox)
At least 200 US companies were affected by a Chinese hacking attack
The intelligence agencies claim that the breaches were amongst the largest ever. (WP $)
+ AI-generated Ransomware on the Rise (Wired $)
It took only a few months to construct the new Flamingo Cruise Missile of Ukraine
Russia’s air defences are deteriorating. This missile can exploit these gaps. (Economist $)
+ In an overnight attack on Kyiv, 14 people have been killed. (BBC)
+ Starlink’s biggest repair shop in Ukraine. (MIT Technology Review)
The US economy is benefiting from 4 AI infrastructure investments
AI hardware is a huge investment for companies, and it has a positive impact on the economy. (NYT $)
+ AI: How to optimize it for success (MIT Technology Review)
OpenAI and Anthropic have each tested the safety of their AI systems.
The researchers found that Claude was a great deal more conservative than OpenAI’s mini-models. (Engadget)
+ OpenAI models were plagued by sycophancy. (TechCrunch)
+ The benchmark uses Reddit AITA’s AITA in order to see how AI models can fool us. (MIT Technology Review)
The climate change in Europe has exacerbated wildfires that have killed many people
Fires in the Mediterranean region are expected to increase in frequency and severity. (BBC)
+ What we can learn from the melting of a glacier. New Yorker Dollar
+ Artificial intelligence can be used to spot fires. (MIT Technology Review)
Seven 911 centres are now using AI for answering calls
This helps triage any items that aren’t urgent. (TechCrunch)
Wikipedia compiled an 8-point list of AI tropes in writing
Their presence is not a guarantee that a text was written by AI. Fast Company $
+ AI text detection tools can be easily fooled. (MIT Technology Review)
Melania Trump launched the Presidential AI Challenge
It’s hard to tell what exactly the competition is. The New York Mag ($)
Netflix algorithm-appeasing films are dull and bland
Millions of people are still going to watch the videos. (The Guardian)
Today’s Quote
“The more you buy, the more you grow.”
Reuters reported that Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang sees the AI chip boom as continuing indefinitely.