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Emerald AI Has a New Approach to Meeting AI's Energy Demand
Emerald AI Has a New Approach to Meeting AI's Energy Demand

Newsweek

time19 hours ago

  • Business
  • Newsweek

Emerald AI Has a New Approach to Meeting AI's Energy Demand

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump and members of his cabinet highlighted the surging demand for energy that will be needed to power the growth in artificial intelligence (AI) at an event this week in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Republican Senator Dave McCormick organized an AI and energy summit Tuesday at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he and other political and business leaders framed the race to develop AI as crucial to economic and national security interests. "This is a competition we must win," McCormick said in opening remarks at the event. Billionaire businessman Jonathan Gray, president and CEO of the asset management firm Blackstone Group, said in a panel discussion at the event that access to energy has emerged as the main constraint on AI. President Donald Trump and Pennsylvania Republican Senator Dave McCormick at an event Tuesday focused on AI and energy. President Donald Trump and Pennsylvania Republican Senator Dave McCormick at an event Tuesday focused on AI and energy. Courtesy of Carnegie Mellon University "Energy is the limiting factor," Gray said. "Unless we get the energy side right, we can't do this." Energy analysts predict a coming spike in electricity demand for energy-hungry data centers. A Department of Energy report in December predicted that electricity use by data centers in the U.S. could nearly triple over the coming three years, consuming as much as 12 percent of the country's total electricity output by 2028. Tech companies are racing to secure connections to the electric grid, pouring money into new energy sources and, in some cases, securing their own power supplies. Grid managers, utility companies and regulators, meanwhile, are wrestling with how to meet the growing demand while keeping the power supply affordable and reliable. Sustainability is also at risk as the AI boom drives up greenhouse gas emissions, knocking many tech companies off target for their net-zero climate goals. Against this fraught backdrop, one emerging technology seeks to make AI data centers friendlier users of the power grid. "Our goal is to make these data centers flexible in their power consumption," Varun Sivaram, CEO and founder of Emerald AI, told Newsweek. Emerald made waves this month when it announced a $24.5 million round of financing backed by big names connecting the tech, energy and climate worlds, including chip maker Nvidia, former climate envoy John Kerry and Kleiner Perkins chair John Doerr. Sivaram explained that Emerald's platform allows grid managers to remotely shift power demand for data centers without affecting AI performance. "That makes it possible to connect far more data centers to today's energy system and more efficiently use today's energy system without a massive build-out of new infrastructure," he said. Utility companies and grid managers must plan for peak energy demand—those times when electricity use will be highest across the service area—and build electricity generation capacity to match those peak moments. Often, some of the most expensive and most polluting sources in a regional power fleet are "peaker plants," the ones that turn on only at times of peak demand. But if those power companies could better anticipate and control the demand for electricity, they might avoid the need for those extra peak power supplies and reduce the risk of blackouts. Sivaram said Emerald applies that concept of demand-side management to the special properties of data centers, giving power system managers more flexibility. "They don't have to assume that a 200- or 500-megawatt data center is going to ask for its full allocation at that exact, worst moment when everybody's running their air conditioning on a hot summer day," he said. Emerald and some partner companies put the technology to a test recently in Phoenix, a place with a high concentration of data centers and a pressing need for air conditioning. "I think it was like 96 degrees that day," he said. "Everyone was using their air conditioning." When the local power provider alerted Emerald that peak energy demand was approaching, the company put its platform into action, reducing power consumption by AI chip clusters by 25 percent while the rest of the city needed the most energy. "We held that lower period of power consumption for three hours, during which time the power peaked and started coming back down," Sivaram said. Sivaram said he thinks this approach has the potential to flip the script on the AI energy issue, turning data centers into "grid allies" instead of a potential threat. "Communities are afraid their rates will go up, their power grid will crash, and these data centers will use diesel generators, which are dirty and create air pollution," he said. "Emerald AI's approach to flexibility mitigates all three of these." Newsweek will dive further into the issues around data center energy demand during an all-day event in September during Climate Week NYC. Mark your calendar for "Powering Ahead" on Thursday, September 25.

Power shift: How CMU is helping shape America's energy evolution
Power shift: How CMU is helping shape America's energy evolution

Business Journals

time2 days ago

  • Business
  • Business Journals

Power shift: How CMU is helping shape America's energy evolution

As AI models grow more powerful, their appetite for energy also increases, straining an aging and outdated grid and prompting urgent questions about infrastructure, security and access. From reimagining AI data centers to modernizing and securing the electric grid, Carnegie Mellon University researchers are working on practical solutions to pressing challenges in how the U.S. produces, moves and secures energy. The AI-energy connection While AI drives economic growth and scientific breakthroughs, it's also straining the energy infrastructure that is currently in place. The good news? AI can help solve that problem. expand Zico Kolter 'As work across Carnegie Mellon shows, AI has the potential to drastically improve our energy consumption by assisting in developing more efficient techniques for grid operation, building better materials for batteries, and potentially even truly revolutionizing energy by accelerating the development of technologies like nuclear fusion,' said Zico Kolter, head of the Machine Learning Department in CMU's School of Computer Science. 'These are all big bets, to be clear, and advancing science is never a sure thing, but AI at its best can be a unique enabler of so many beneficial downstream technologies.' Getting into the fast lane Carnegie Mellon is pioneering the use of AI to modernize the electric grid to meet current and future needs. 'Transmission moves power from the locations where it is produced to the locations where it is needed, and the U.S. urgently needs more capacity,' said M. Granger Morgan, the Hamerschlag University Professor of Engineering at CMU. 'The Department of Energy predicts the country will need to more than double high-voltage transmission capacity over the next several decades. At the same time the construction of new long-distance transmission has stalled. Breaking the logjam that often makes it impossible to build new transmission capacity without placing an unacceptable burden on consumers' electric bills is a major challenge.' expand M. Granger Morgan CMU researchers are developing 'AI fast lanes' — special lanes on the electricity "highway" just for clean energy projects that power AI and data centers. These fast lanes would let clean energy projects connect to the grid faster, ensure the electricity stays affordable and reliable, help protect the environment and make things fair for everyone. These innovations are crucial as the U.S. grid integrates more intermittent renewable sources like wind and solar. Securing the future As the grid becomes more digitized, security gaps widen — unless we address them. CMU's CyLab Security and Privacy Institute and Electrical and Computer Engineering department in the College of Engineering are working to stay ahead of the threat curve, using AI to anticipate and neutralize cyberattacks before they cause widespread disruption. 'AI-driven energy expansion is a prime opportunity to harden our infrastructure against cyber threats,' said Audrey Kurth Cronin, director of the Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy and Technology. 'Upgrading energy infrastructure for AI offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to replace vulnerable legacy systems with inherently more defensible technologies.' CMU researchers Lujo Bauer, Larry Pileggi and Vyas Sekar are calling on the research and policy communities to develop more comprehensive and accurate grid evaluation frameworks and datasets, and for updating threat models and grid resiliency requirements to match cyber attackers' realistic capabilities. As part of their research, they interviewed 18 grid security specialists and analyzed four major threats, from overloading smart devices to taking over entire power plants. They found wide disagreement on how likely or dangerous these threats are. 'Our work has shown that inconsistencies in threat assessments occur because of ad hoc simulation and modeling methodologies, as well as dataset errors,' Sekar said. 'This shows the need for the creation of standardized public toolkits and datasets and for recommending ways to increase the accuracy of evaluations. This will enable us, as well as other researchers, to develop more rigorous foundations for securing tomorrow's electric energy grid.' Policy that meets the moment CMU's expertise extends beyond the labs and code to shape public policy through systems modeling, data-driven decision making and collaboration with government and industry. Ramayya Krishnan, director of the AI Measurement Science and Engineering Center, has said CMU's ability to look at issues from a systems standpoint is what makes the university uniquely positioned to address the complex challenges and opportunities that lie at the intersection of energy and AI. "That's our sweet spot," Krishnan said. "At CMU, we have strength in all the different layers. We have deep expertise in energy, deep expertise in AI and deep expertise in public policy, and we understand how these elements come together." Carnegie Mellon University brings together experts across disciplines to address real-world challenges and create lasting impact. From advancing technology to improving lives, CMU is committed to research, innovation, and education that drives meaningful change in society, industry, and communities around the world.

Sushma Seth: Never the Garden Variety
Sushma Seth: Never the Garden Variety

New Indian Express

time2 days ago

  • Entertainment
  • New Indian Express

Sushma Seth: Never the Garden Variety

Long before she became a household name with India's first soap opera, Hum Log, Sushma Seth was a young girl staging plays in her garden, casting her siblings, directing them, and performing for family and neighbours. Having grown up in a joint family in the capital city, the veteran actor remembers collecting props from home, and staging small plays with the assistance of older family members. 'I always loved acting and music,' Seth adds. Soon enough, the young girl's talent was noticed—her uncle, Maheshwar Dayal, wrote two plays for her. One of them was performed on the Regal cinema's stage. A scholarship eventually took Seth to Briarcliffe College in New York, where she studied drama. Seth was ecstatic that the course included acting, direction, stagecraft, voice training, set and costume design. She was cast in all the important roles, was president of the student council, and crowned May Queen. The Dean raised a scholarship for Sushma to transfer to Carnegie Mellon University, one of the top drama schools in the US, where she also performed and toured with a children's theatre company. 'After four years, I returned to India. And within a fortnight, I was offered a play,' she tells TMS. That first play was Rustom Sohrab, directed by the renowned theatre exponent Habib Tanvir. 'The production was excellent with stylised costumes, music, and powerful performances,' she says. After that, she was offered roles in plays directed by other stalwarts such as Joy Michael, Inderlal Dass, Sai Paranjpye, and Rajindernath, in English, Hindi and Urdu.

After message protests Trump, Carnegie Mellon University temporarily closes The Fence
After message protests Trump, Carnegie Mellon University temporarily closes The Fence

CBS News

time2 days ago

  • Politics
  • CBS News

After message protests Trump, Carnegie Mellon University temporarily closes The Fence

The Fence at Carnegie Mellon University has become a staple for students to display messages on campus. Whether it be advertising their organization or giving a take on current events, it has served as a way to express their speech. But in a letter to students, CMU President Farnam Jahanian said the fence is closing after a recent message protesting President Trump. The fence sits as just a white fence now in the center of the campus. No messages, no pictures, just a plain fence. This comes after "no rapists on our campus" was painted during the AI and Energy summit at Carnegie Mellon on Tuesday. CMU's administration decided to paint over it and close it until sometime next week. "It strikes me as very uncharacteristic and concerning to see that they've made the decision to censor speech on campus," said Anthony Cacciato, a CMU senior and member of the College Republicans. Cacciato said CMU has championed free speech, and this goes against it. While he didn't agree with the message, he says students had a right to say it. River Sepinuck, a junior at CMU and communications chair of the College Democrats, said it's disappointing the university is censoring students. His group met with university leadership about the fence. "Unfortunately, [Jahanian] spent most of the meeting talking down to us, which we were disappointed by. We were hoping to get some form of concrete action about the change in policies surrounding the fence," Sepinuck said. Earlier in the week, "protest the summit" was written and protected by the school with space for the students to address their concerns about Tuesday's event. In a message from the university's president, he says CMU supports peaceful protest, public dissent, and the exchange of ideas. It goes on to say that after messages equating Nazism, Zionism and Hindutva earlier this year and this latest message, the school is looking at how to move forward. "It would be a great disservice to the culture on campus and the students on campus to go back and renege on this commitment to free speech that has been a cornerstone of how Carnegie Mellon has conducted itself in the past," Cacciato said. Jahanian's letter says recent years have seen more messages disconnected from "meaningful dialogue." Cacciato said once messages are allowed back, no one should feel a chilling effect to say their thoughts. Sepinuck says there is most certainly a chilling effect moving forward. "Knowing that just by unilateral decision, that President Jahanian can say, 'I don't like and I'm going to paint over it,' it makes us more hesitant to paint on the fence," Sepinuck said. According to CMU, it looks to reaffirm the purpose of the tradition. No word on when next week messages may continue.

Trump joins tech leaders to launch $90 billion AI push at Pittsburgh summit
Trump joins tech leaders to launch $90 billion AI push at Pittsburgh summit

USA Today

time2 days ago

  • Business
  • USA Today

Trump joins tech leaders to launch $90 billion AI push at Pittsburgh summit

President Donald Trump joined executives from some of the largest U.S. tech and energy companies for a summit in Pittsburgh on Tuesday as the administration prepares more measures to power the U.S. expansion of artificial intelligence. Top economic rivals, the U.S. and China, are locked in a technological arms race over who can dominate AI as the technology takes on increasing importance everywhere from corporate boardrooms to the battlefield. The Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University brought tech executives and officials from top energy and tech firms, including Meta META.O, Microsoft MSFT.O, Alphabet GOOGL.O and Exxon Mobil XOM.N, to discuss how to position the U.S. as a leader in AI. Trump and the summit's host, U.S. Senator Dave McCormick, a Republican ally from Pennsylvania, highlighted some $90 billion in artificial intelligence and energy investments in the state. "This is a really triumphant day for the people of the Commonwealth and for the United States of America, we're doing things that nobody ever thought possible," Trump told the attendees. Big Tech is scrambling to secure enough electricity to power the energy-guzzling data centers needed for its rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Companies began announcing their plans early on Tuesday, with Google inking a $3 billion electricity deal and CoreWeave CRWV.O touting a $6 billion AI data center. Artificial intelligence: Nvidia becomes first company to reach $4 trillion market cap. What are the top 5? Google said it secured as much as 3 gigawatts of U.S. hydropower in a deal between the tech firm and Brookfield Asset Management that includes initial 20-year power purchase agreements for electricity generated from two facilities in Pennsylvania. Asset management firm Blackstone's BX.N President Jon Gray also said they will announce on Tuesday a $25 billion investment in data centers and energy infrastructure in Pennsylvania. The CEOs that attended included Khaldoon Al-Mubarak of Abu Dhabi investment company Mubadala, Rene Haas of Arm O9Ty.F, Larry Fink of BlackRock BLK.N, Darren Woods of Exxon Mobil, Brendan Bechtel of Bechtel and Dario Amodei of Anthropic. The White House is considering executive actions in the coming weeks to make it easier for power-generating projects to connect to the grid and also provide federal land on which to build the data centers needed to expand AI technology, Reuters previously reported. The administration is also weighing streamlining permitting for data centers by creating a nationwide Clean Water Act permit, rather than requiring companies to seek permits on a state-by-state basis. Trump ordered his administration in January to produce an AI Action Plan that would make "America the world capital in artificial intelligence" and reduce regulatory barriers to its rapid expansion. That report, which includes input from the National Security Council, is due by July 23. Trump is set to mark that deadline with a major speech as part of an event titled 'Winning the AI Race,' organized by White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and his co-hosts on the All-In podcast, a White House official told Reuters. U.S. power demand is hitting record highs this year after nearly two decades of stagnation as AI and cloud computing data centers balloon in numbers and size across the country. The demand is also leading to unprecedented deals between the power industry and technology companies, including the attempted restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania between Constellation Energy CEG.O and Microsoft. The surge has led to concerns about power shortages that threaten to raise electricity bills and increase the risk of blackouts, while slowing Big Tech in its global race against countries like China to dominate AI. Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Laila Kearney in New York; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Stephen Coates, Tomasz Janowski and Marguerita Choy

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