According to The Independent, the ChatGPT creator currently processes hundreds of millions of queries a day, and estimates suggest that this consumes around 1GWh every day. This energy consumption is equivalent to about 33,000 US households.
As the functionality of productive AI tools like ChatGPT improves and grows in popularity, this energy consumption is predicted to increase significantly in the coming years.
"There is no way to get there without a breakthrough. And that motivates us to invest more in fusion."
WHAT IS NUCLEAR FUSION?
Nuclear fusion has the potential to provide virtually unlimited energy by mimicking the natural reactions occurring in the Sun, and some scientists are calling it the "holy grail" of clean energy.
ENERGY GAINS USING NUCLEAR FUSION
There have been many breakthroughs in recent years, not least of which was the first fusion ignition at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in 2022.
This saw researchers achieve a net energy gain using nuclear fusion, a feat the lab has since repeated.
Despite this development, it was noted that time is needed before nuclear fusion can be commercialized on a significant scale.
375 MILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT
Altman has personally invested $375 million in Helion Energy, a US-based nuclear fusion company that aims to generate electricity on a commercial scale using next-generation technology by 2028.
FIRST COMPANY TO MAKE A DEAL FOR NUCLEAR FUSION ENERGY
Last year, the company became the first in the world to make a purchase agreement for nuclear fusion energy, after Microsoft made it part of its plan to transition to clean energy sources by the end of the decade.
OPENAI TRUSTS MICROSOFT SERVERS
OpenAI currently relies on Microsoft's servers and computing resources to power its AI tools, which means it will likely benefit from Helion Energy reaching commercial-scale nuclear power generation.
