CNN
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US artificial intelligence (AI) representatives are scheduled to meet with senior US officials at the White House on Thursday, according to information obtained by CNN, in the first such meeting to tackle a puzzle that could put serious strain on America’s infrastructure: how to power an AI boom.
Tech executives expected to attend include Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT’s developer Open AI, Ruth Porat, a senior Google executive, and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.
The meeting, which has not been previously reported, marks the first time that White House officials have met with technology executives to discuss how to quench AI’s insatiable thirst for energy. Sources say the White House plans to discuss in detail how the public and private sectors can work together to maintain U.S. leadership in AI in a sustainable way.
The effort shows how business leaders and government officials are being forced to confront new challenges posed by the AI boom that has captivated Wall Street investors.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and other senior officials from the Biden-Harris administration are also expected to attend, along with representatives from Microsoft, White House officials said.
Neither President Joe Biden nor Vice President Kamala Harris are expected to attend.
As the Biden administration seeks to accelerate the transition away from coal and other fossil fuels, the rapid development of energy-hungry AI has raised concerns that the technology will strain America’s aging power grid.
AI holds the promise of solving wicked problems like the climate crisis and cancer, but it also faces complex challenges, like how to meet the massive power demands required for advanced AI systems.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a single ChatGPT request consumes about 10 times more electricity than a typical Google search. By 2026, the AI industry’s electricity consumption is expected to grow at least 10 times compared to 2023, according to the IEA.
According to Goldman Sachs, AI is expected to cause a 160% surge in electricity demand for data centers by 2030. AI’s energy needs will be so large that it will lead to a massive increase in long-stagnant U.S. electricity demand over the next decade, the bank said.
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to CNN that Altman will attend the conference and will focus on how building America’s AI infrastructure — power generation, data centers, and semiconductor manufacturing — can create jobs.
In a recent Washington Post op-ed, Altman described the question of who will control the future of AI as “the urgent issue of our time.”
“The United States currently leads in AI development,” Altman writes, “but continued leadership is by no means guaranteed; authoritarian governments around the world are prepared to spend enormous amounts of money to catch up and eventually surpass the United States.”
Altman cares deeply about this issue: Not only is he a public face in the AI industry, but he’s also an investor in Exowatt, a startup that hopes solar power can help reduce AI’s carbon footprint. Exowatt just launched a new system that can generate and store clean energy for AI data centers.
“President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to deepening American leadership in AI by ensuring that data centers are built in the United States and the technology is developed responsibly,” White House press secretary Robin Paterson told CNN in a statement.
Other US officials expected to attend Thursday’s AI Power conference include White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, National Economic Adviser Lael Brainard, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and top climate change officials Ali Zaidi and John Podesta.
The meeting follows an effort by the Biden administration in July 2023 to get major AI companies to commit to subjecting new AI systems to external testing before releasing them to the public and to clearly labeling AI-generated content.
Today is a big day for Sam Altman: He’ll be appearing on ABC’s Oprah Winfrey special on AI at 8pm ET, which will also feature former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates.
