Topics

up-to-the-minute

AI

Amazon

Article image

Image Credits:Daniel Balakov(opens in a new window)/ Getty Images

Apps

Biotech & Health

Climate

High voltage engineer working on power lines at night.

Image Credits:Daniel Balakov(opens in a new window)/ Getty Images

Cloud Computing

DoC

Crypto

go-ahead

EVs

Fintech

Fundraising

convenience

Gaming

Google

Government & Policy

computer hardware

Instagram

Layoffs

Media & Entertainment

Meta

Microsoft

Privacy

Robotics

security measures

Social

Space

Startups

TikTok

Transportation

speculation

More from TechCrunch

Events

Startup Battlefield

StrictlyVC

Podcasts

telecasting

Partner Content

TechCrunch Brand Studio

Crunchboard

get through Us

Nvidia announced Thursday it ’s partnering with EPRI , a power industry R&D establishment , to use AI to solve trouble face the electrical control grid . Perhaps ironically , the issues are mostly because of rising power demandfrom AI itself .

The Open Power AI Consortium , which includes a phone number of electrical service program and tech companies , saysit will apply what are known as knowledge domain - specific AI manakin to invent new ways to tackle problem that the power industry is portend to face in the coming years . The model will be open sourced and uncommitted to researchers across academia and manufacture .

The mightiness industry is facingsurging requirement from datum centersin the United States and elsewhere as AI ramps up the need for calculate power . Electricity need is expected to get by 4 % annually in the coming years , accordingto the International Energy Agency , about threefold over 2023 public figure .

In an attempt to continue ahead of the trend , tech ship’s company have been racing to secure generating capacity as power has transmute from a dim-witted line item to a competitive advantage .

Over the last year or so , tech companies have been consistently inking new contract . They ’ve mostly been overspread across renewable energy labor , spurred mostly by solar ’s low price , modularity , and the speed at which it can be deployed .

Microsoft , for example , recently lend 475 megawatt of solar powerto its tidy renewable portfolio . Last yr , it became ananchor investorin a $ 9 billion renewable development labor run by Acadia , and earlier in the yr it said it was working with Brookfield asset direction to deploy10.5 gigawattsof renewable exponent in the U.S. and Europe , all of which is expected to come online by 2030 .

Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI

Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI

But even though new power sources may be the most obvious response to losing power shortages , they are n’t the only one .

Onerecent studyfound that by curtailing utilisation when need on the grid peaks , including shift project that are n’t time sensitive to period when need is low , an extra 76 GB of capacity could be unlocked in the U.S. It ’s a not insignificant amount , making up approximately 10 % of peak demand in the U.S.

It ’s likely those are the sorts of solutions , among others , that this fresh pool will be exploring .