POWER GRAB
AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution.
As power needs of AI push emissions up and put big tech in a bind, companies put their faith in elusive — some say improbable — technologies.

By Evan Halper and Caroline O'Donovan
June 21, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT

The mighty Columbia River has helped power the American West with hydroelectricity since the days of FDR’s New Deal. But the artificial intelligence revolution will demand more. Much more.

So near the river’s banks in Central Washington, Microsoft is betting on an effort to generate power from atomic fusion — the collision of atoms that powers the sun — a breakthrough that has eluded scientists for the past century. Physicists predict it will elude Microsoft, too.

The tech giant and its partners say they expect to harness fusion by 2028, an audacious claim that bolsters their promises to transition to green energy but distracts from current reality. In fact, the voracious electricity consumption of artificial intelligence is driving an expansion of fossil fuel use — including delaying the retirement of some coal-fired plants.

In the face of this dilemma, Big Tech is going all in on experimental clean-energy projects that have long odds of success anytime soon. In addition to fusion, they are hoping to generate power through such futuristic schemes as small nuclear reactors hooked to individual computing centers and machinery that taps geothermal energy by boring 10,000 feet into the Earth’s crust.

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CORRECTION
An earlier version of this story mischaracterized an International Energy Agency study of energy use for internet searches powered by artificial intelligence. The IEA compared Google searches with searches performed by ChatGPT, the AI chatbot, not a "ChatGPT-powered search on Google." The article also gave an incorrect location for the headquarters of energy firm Eolian. The company is based in California not Texas. This article has been corrected.

About this story
Photo editing by Haley Hamblin. Design editing by Betty Chavarria and Christian Font. Editing by Christopher Rowland. Copy editing by Jeremy Lang. Project editing by KC Schaper. Additional support from Jordan Melendrez, Kathleen Floyd and Victoria Rossi.

By Evan Halper
Evan Halper is a business reporter for The Washington Post, covering the energy transition. His work focuses on the tensions between energy demands and decarbonizing the economy. He came to The Post from the Los Angeles Times, where he spent two decades, most recently covering domestic policy and presidential politics from its Washington bureau. Twitter https://twitter.com/evanhalper

By Caroline O'Donovan
Caroline O'Donovan covers Amazon for the tech team. Before joining The Washington Post, she covered tech and labor for BuzzFeed News. Twitter https://twitter.com/ceodonovan