Economy
AI is ‘accelerating the climate crisis,’ expert warns
If you care about the environment, think twice about using AI.
Generative artificial intelligence uses 30 times more energy than a traditional search engine, warns researcher Sasha Luccioni, on a mission to raise awareness about the environmental impact of the hot new technology.
Recognized as one of the 100 most influential people in the world of AI by the American magazine Time in 2024, the Canadian computer scientist of Russian origin has sought for several years to quantify the emissions of programs like ChatGPT or Midjourney.
“I find it particularly disappointing that generative AI is used to search the Internet,” laments the researcher, who spoke with AFP on the sidelines of the ALL IN artificial intelligence conference, in Montreal.
The language models on which the programs are based require enormous computing capacities to train on billions of data points, necessitating powerful servers.
Then there’s the energy used to respond to each individual user’s requests.
Instead of simply extracting information, “like a search engine would do to find the capital of a country, for example,” AI programs “generate new information,” making the whole thing “much more energy-intensive,” she explains.
According to the International Energy Agency, the combined AI and the cryptocurrency sectors consumed nearly 460 terawatt hours of electricity in 2022 — two percent of total global production.
– Energy efficiency –
A leading researcher on the impact of AI on climate, Luccioni participated in 2020 in the creation of a tool for developers to quantify the carbon footprint of running a piece of code. “CodeCarbon” has since been downloaded more than a million times.
Head of the climate strategy of startup Hugging Face, a platform for sharing open-access AI models, she is now working on creating a certification system for algorithms.
Similar to the program from the US Environmental Protection Agency that awards scores based on the energy consumption of electronic devices and appliances, it would make it possible to know an AI product’s energy consumption in order to encourage users and developers to “make better decisions.”
“We don’t take into account water or rare materials,” she acknowledges, “but at least we know that for a specific task, we can measure energy efficiency and say that this model has an A+, and that model has a D,” she says.
– Transparency –
In order to develop her tool, Luccioni is experimenting with it on generative AI models that are accessible to everyone, or open source, but she would also like to do it on commercial models from Google or ChatGPT-creator OpenAI, which have been reluctant to agree.
Although Microsoft and Google have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by the end of the decade, the US tech giants saw their greenhouse gas emissions soar in 2023 because of AI: up 48 percent for Google compared to 2019 and 29 percent for Microsoft compared to 2020.
“We are accelerating the climate crisis,” says Luccioni, calling for more transparency from tech companies.
The solution, she says, could come from governments that, for the moment, are “flying blindly,” without knowing what is “in the data sets or how the algorithms are trained.”
“Once we have transparency, we can start legislating.”
– ‘Energy sobriety’ –
It is also necessary to “explain to people what generative AI can and cannot do, and at what cost,” according to Luccioni.
In her latest study, the researcher demonstrated that producing a high-definition image using artificial intelligence consumes as much energy as fully recharging the battery of your cell phone.
At a time when more and more companies want to integrate the technology further into our lives — with conversational bots and connected devices, or in online searches — Luccioni advocates “energy sobriety.”
The idea here is not to oppose AI, she emphasizes, but rather to choose the right tools — and use them judiciously.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed 17 cases against Beximco Group’s Vice-Chairman, Salman F Rahman, and 27 others, accusing them of laundering approximately Tk1,000 crore ($83 million) under the guise of export trade. This development was confirmed by Additional Superintendent of Police Azad Rahman through a notification on 18 September.
The investigation, conducted under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, found that Salman F Rahman and his brother, ASF Rahman, who serves as the Chairman of Beximco Group, were involved in laundering around Tk1,000 crore. This was done through the export of goods linked to 93 Letters of Credit (LCs) from Janata Bank PLC between 2021 and 2024. However, the proceeds from these exports were not repatriated to Bangladesh.
The CID revealed that the accused individuals, through an organised operation involving their affiliated companies, exported goods with the malicious intent of transferring money abroad. The probe indicated that they deliberately failed to return the export proceeds, violating multiple sections of the Money Laundering Prevention Act.
According to the CID, Salman F Rahman and his associates used their influence and collaborated with an organised criminal group to launder money. This resulted in 17 cases being filed by the CID’s financial crime unit at Motijheel Police Station.
Salman F Rahman, who has long been a prominent figure during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule, is now facing an in-depth investigation by the CID’s financial crime unit. The investigation focuses on significant allegations of money laundering and financial misconduct, as highlighted in a preliminary report from the CID on 1 September.
Salman is also accused of laundering Tk33,470 crore abroad, allegedly obtained through loans from seven banks over the past 15 years. Of this, Tk21,681 crore was borrowed from state-owned Janata Bank, while Tk5,281 crore came from IFIC Bank, where Salman previously served as chairman.
In addition to these allegations, Salman is believed to have profited Tk6,600 crore through manipulation of the capital market and is accused of failing to repatriate Tk1,485 crore from export proceeds.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) has predicted light to moderate rain or thundershowers, accompanied by temporary gusty winds, in all eight divisions of the country over the next 24 hours, starting from 9 AM today.
According to the BMD forecast, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions are likely to experience light to moderate rain or thundershowers, while Dhaka and Barishal divisions may see similar weather at a few locations. In Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Khulna divisions, rainfall is expected in one or two places, with some areas potentially experiencing moderately heavy showers.
The BMD also stated that both day and night temperatures might rise slightly across the country.
On Tuesday, the highest temperature was recorded at 36.5 degrees Celsius in Rajarhat, Rangpur division, while today’s lowest temperature was 24.6 degrees Celsius in Tetulia, also in Rangpur.
In the last 24 hours up to 6 AM today, Cumilla in the Chattogram division recorded 3 mm of rainfall.
The sun is expected to set at 5:58 PM today and rise at 5:46 AM tomorrow in Dhaka.
On Wednesday, an EU court will decide on Google’s appeal against a €1.49 billion ($1.65 billion) fine imposed by the European Union. This comes just a week after the tech giant faced a major legal defeat over a larger penalty.
Regulators worldwide are ramping up scrutiny on Google’s parent company, Alphabet, as legal trials and investigations continue to target the multinational giant. Last week, the European Union secured a legal victory when its top court upheld a 2017 fine of €2.42 billion against Google for abusing its dominant position by promoting its own comparison shopping service.
The European Commission has led the charge in cracking down on big tech abuses, imposing a total of €8.2 billion in fines on Google between 2017 and 2019 for antitrust violations.
The latest case, set for a ruling on Wednesday, concerns the third of those fines—worth €1.49 billion—stemming from Google’s misuse of its dominance through the AdSense advertising service. The Luxembourg-based General Court is scheduled to release its decision on Google’s appeal shortly after 0730 GMT.
Google has requested the court to either fully or partially annul the European Commission’s decision, or at least reduce the fine.
Ongoing Legal Battles
The EU’s actions against Google are far from over. The tech giant is also contesting a €4.3 billion fine levied in 2018 for placing illegal restrictions on Android smartphones to boost its internet search business. This remains the largest antitrust penalty ever imposed by the EU. While the General Court reduced the fine slightly to €4.1 billion in 2022, it largely upheld the EU’s arguments that Google had violated competition laws. Google has since appealed this ruling to the European Court of Justice.
Meanwhile, the EU has strengthened its regulatory arsenal with the introduction of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), designed to prevent antitrust violations before they occur. This law provides clear guidelines on what tech companies can and cannot do online, aiming to correct behaviors proactively rather than reactively issuing fines.
Google, Meta (Facebook’s parent company), and Apple are currently under investigation under the DMA.
Global Pressure Mounts
Google is also facing mounting legal challenges in the US. Last week, it entered its second major antitrust trial within a year, with the US government accusing it of monopolizing ad technology. This follows a US judge’s August ruling that declared Google’s search business an illegal monopoly, sparking fears that the company may face a potential breakup.
Globally, Google’s advertising technology is under intense scrutiny, with British regulators accusing the company of market dominance earlier this month. The EU reached similar conclusions last year, recommending that Google divest its ad tech business. Google has the opportunity to respond to these charges before the final decisions are made.
Despite the growing regulatory pressure, Alphabet reported revenue from online ad searches totaling $48.5 billion for the second quarter of this year.
