But one thing Microsoft-backed OpenAI needed for its technology was plenty of water, pulled from the watershed of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers in central Iowa to cool a powerful supercomputer as it helped teach its AI systems how to mimic human writing.
As they race to capitalize on a craze for generative AI, leading tech developers including Microsoft, OpenAI and Google have acknowledged that growing demand for their AI tools carries hefty costs, from expensive semiconductors to an increase in water consumption.
But they’re often secretive about the specifics. Few people in Iowa knew about its status as a birthplace of OpenAI’s most advanced large language model, GPT-4, before a top Microsoft executive said in a speech it “was literally made next to cornfields west of Des Moines.”
We’ve got to start distinguishing between using up fossil ground water or devastating these desert rivers in places that just don’t have water.
Where I live, we have enough water. Now and before. Maybe more now, but same climate change.
It’s just where I live, I don’t “use up” water unless I pollute it.
“For FY22, total water withdrawal from areas with water stress was 2,449 megaliters (ML) (23 percent) and was primarily sourced from third-party water; total water discharge to areas with water stress was 1,140 ML (26 percent); and total water consumption from areas with water stress was 1,310 ML (20 percent).” from this PDF fact sheet from MS
… note 1 ML = 1,000,000 liters or 219969.3 gallons