Sina Science and Technology News on the afternoon of May 13, Beijing time7cardpokergamesMark Zuckerberg, co-founder and CEO of Meta, said in an exclusive interview with Youtube podcast author Dwarkesh Patel that the industry has been plagued for a long time.7cardpokergamesThe shortage of AI chips is almost over, but the energy supply problem will become the next major bottleneck.
Zuckerberg said that as the shortage of AI GPU ends, companies will be tempted to spend a lot of money on things, such as data centers. But before capital becomes a problem, the industry will face energy restrictions.
To support this view, Zuckerberg said that many new data centers are consuming 50 to 100 megawatts of power, especially large ones as high as 150 megawatts. Based on this trend, it seems only a matter of time before data centers consume 300MW or 500MW, or even 1000 MW of electricity.
In response, Zuckerberg asked: how long can this exponential AI training and energy curve last? This problem makes energy production become the focus of attention. Zuckerberg stressed that energy production could soon become a hot spot for investment.
But building a new power station is not an easy task. Given regulations (especially nuclear energy) and transmission line planning and construction, it can take many years from planning to delivering electricity to the grid.
It has been reported before that many companies are consuming a lot of electricity. At the same time, US states are trying to reduce their dependence on fossil fuel power generation, making it like walking a tightrope to attract key companies while ensuring their energy supplies. Complicating matters is also the relationship between supply and demand, which will affect consumer prices and supply.
Looking ahead, flexibility seems to be the key to solving this problem. For example, the use of various sources of energy, such as solar energy (000591) and wind; the use of batteries for peak management; the use of nuclear energy where available; and the pragmatic use of fossil fuel resources as needed.
There are reports that Meta is working with Silicon Ranch, a solar developer in Georgia, to help power its data center.