Former Facebook Executive Warns AI Industry Must Address Energy Consumption Amid Data Center Boom
Chris Kelly, Facebook's former chief privacy officer, has issued a stark warning about the AI industry's unsustainable energy demands. Speaking to CNBC, Kelly emphasized that human brains operate on just 20 watts—a stark contrast to the billions of watts consumed by AI data centers. "Efficiency will separate winners from losers," he stated, noting Nvidia and OpenAI's recent plans for facilities requiring 10 gigawatts—enough to power 8 million U.S. homes annually.
The energy crisis coincides with China's rise in AI development. DeepSeek's December 2024 release of a cost-efficient large language model ($6M development cost) underscores this shift. With President Trump greenlighting Nvidia H200 chip sales to China, open-source models may soon democratize access to computational power—potentially reshaping the crypto mining landscape.
