"Jensen Huang, the boss of the chipmaker Nvidia, had some advice for UK ministers last week as they signed a multibillion-pound tech deal with the US: burn more gas. I've every confidence that the UK will realise that it takes energy to grow new industries, he said. Sustainable power like nuclear and wind and of course all of that solar is all going to contribute. But I'm also hoping that gas turbines can also contribute."
"The multibillion-dollar tech agreement, signed to coincide with the flummery of Donald Trump's visit, involves welcoming a slew of vast new energy-hungry datacentres, built by US companies (the term datacentre occurs 14 times in the official release). Demand for these digital warehouses has rocketed with the adoption of generative artificial intelligence, which requires vast volumes of data to train its models. Appearing recently on comedian Theo Von's podcast, Sam Altman, the chief executive of the ChatGPT creator, OpenAI, mused: I do guess that a lot of the world gets covered in datacentres over time, before blithely suggesting: Maybe we put them in space."
"Ministers' determination to roll out the red carpet for US tech is understandable, given Labour's urgent need for economic growth and the drive to improve public sector productivity, but it has come with little or no public discussion about potential downsides. That is particularly worrying given the stranglehold over these technologies of a small number of ultra-powerful American companies, with no reason to stick with the UK if the bubble bursts. Nick Clegg, who, as a former president of global affairs at Meta, knows something about selling out to Silicon Valley, called the US-UK deal just another version of the United Kingdom holding on to Uncle Sam's coat-tails."
Advice was offered to increase gas usage to supply energy for growing new industries, alongside commitments to nuclear, wind and solar. A multibillion-dollar deal will welcome numerous large, energy-hungry datacentres built by US companies. Generative artificial intelligence has sharply increased demand for datacentres because model training requires vast volumes of data. Ministers prioritized attracting US tech for economic growth and public-sector productivity, with limited public debate about potential downsides. Market concentration in a few powerful American companies raises the risk that firms could relocate if economic or regulatory conditions change. Concerns have been raised about sustainability implications.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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