Janus: Chip efficiency gains will not reduce AI data center power demand
Brian Janous · Under the hood of data center power demand · Jun 13, 2024 · at 41:36
Former Microsoft energy lead Brian Janus explains why Jevons paradox applies to AI infrastructure: any chip efficiency gains from Nvidia will lead to higher compute density, not lower power usage.
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“If let's say Meta, for instance, finds a piece of land or a point on the grid where they can pull three gigawatts, Of power on one location. And then the next day, NVIDIA comes out with a chip that's twice as efficient. Is Meta going to build a 1.5 gigawatt data center? No. They're going to build a three gigawatt data center that is twice as powerful as the one they thought they were going to build, right? That's what this AI game is all about, is, is building the most powerful models that you can. And so, you know, that's why, you know, efficiency isn't really going to save us in this particular context.”
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