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Letter to Governor Abbott on responsible AI infrastructure in Texas
- minraws 2mo agoI only have one question is this legally binding in US in any way if not what's the point virtue signalling? Can openai make it's books public to ensure that it has the money to fulfill it's extra commitments.
- thewebguyd 2mo agoNot legally binding, no. This is more of a lobbying attempt, Abbott just paused all new data center development in Texas until the state can audit them, they have an interconnection queue of about 474GW, ERCOT can't handle it that's more than 5x Texas's peak electricity demand.
- vablings 2mo agoThat would be more half the entire grid load of the USA
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- mcmcmc 2mo agoThey’d do better with a bribe, Texas runs on corruption. I’m sure the campaign contribution checks are already written though
- alaudet 2mo agoThat's probably already happened. This is smoke and mirrors. Monorail...MoNoRail...MONORAIL!!!!!
- coldbrewed 2mo agoThis is a collection of "OpenAI will boldly act in the abstract to provide air coverage for Texas leadership." With data centers under construction one would think they would have examples of successes or projects in progress available for reference. They'd claim credit if they had it so the silence is telling. Big tech has consistently valued profit and growth above good stewardship; the onus is entirely on OpenAI to demonstrate that any of these claims aren't fluff with the projects that are already greenlit. When OpenAI presents plans to the communities prior to/alongside city counsels and drops the NDAs then there will be merit to this but our expectations should be somewhere between "super deep kola borehole" and "upper mantle".
- ertgbnm 2mo agoYeah if they were so committed to doing good, you'd think the billions of dollars they have spent would bear some evidence of that by now.
- vrganj 2mo agoThey must be "effective" "altruists". The only way to do good is to first do all the bad and consolidate power, so you can then use all that power to do good, pinkie promise!
- watwut 2mo agoI noticed the same thing about effective altruism. Its fans are really good at convincing themselves the most self-serving action amd goals are noble pursuits.
- surfmike 2mo agoHow much does OpenAI actually control the way the data centers are built and deployed? I don’t know much about the impact of their data centers compared to others, but there weren’t many (if any) concrete commitments in this letter. The promises all seem like areas that even an evil corporation could pay lip service to.
- firesteelrain 2mo agoOpenAI et al can establish a Data Center PAC or contribute to one then lobby our political leaders like citizens (see Citzens United)
- bob1029 2mo ago> How much does OpenAI actually control the way the data centers are built and deployed? Assuming OAI is the sole tenant in these facilities, I'd say we are approaching 100% control.
- coldbrewed 2mo agoWith the amount of cash OpenAI is splashing around they could easily write it into the contracts, but the current incentive structure prioritizes time between ground breaking and powered GPUs in racks. OpenAI has shown complete disinterest in the impact of AI writ large and will only reduce their community/infra impact to optimize that time to racked GPU along the Pareto frontier.
- mNovak 2mo agoMajor tenants like OAI have near total control. These GW-class datacenters are built to spec for the tenant. Construction doesn't start until all the details are signed off.
- clutchdude 2mo agoIt is setting up the classic liability shift. If you are just paying the bills and leasing the space, is it really your fault a datacenter some other entity built is sucking the water table of Levelland dry? If I just use and don't own the data center, then how can I be held accountable for it's impact others?
- arjie 2mo agoIf Virginia or Louisiana should profit by this then so be it. Californian land-use laws will have a net effect of -8 house seats against Texas. That is good. It should happen. If Texans will be poorer so Virginians will be richer, that is also good. May the American federal system reign forever. Allowing for states as experiments and letting them suffer their consequences is good. It is a machine for us to iterate on our present and future prosperity.
- jnovek 2mo agoWhen experiments fail the constituents pay the price, not the experimenters.
- andsoitis 2mo ago> When experiments fail the constituents pay the price, not the experimenters. Are you arguing that the leaders of a state, who were elected by the constituents, should not experiment and try make things better? By definition, some experiments will fail.
- platevoltage 2mo agoCan you name a politician who's been elected based on their promise to put datacenter in their community?
- andsoitis 2mo ago> Can you name a politician who's been elected based on their promise to put datacenter in their community? That's not a useful question. What's the point you're trying to make?
- platevoltage 2mo agoYou called it "experimenting". People vote for candidates because they want them to do what they campaigned on, not experiment on them. As far as I'm aware, no candidate has campaigned on building datacenters next to their constituents' houses.
- dyauspitr 2mo agoWhy can’t these idiots just mandate that you have to build out clean energy to power the data centers. It’s such a simple bit of legislation that they just will not do.
- polski-g 2mo agoBecause the federal government made it effectively illegal to build nuclear reactors, and there are no more rivers to be dammed.
- andsoitis 2mo ago[flagged]
- WarmWash 2mo agoPeople will run to point to the spate of new nuclear plans, but the point be made here is that nuclear regulation is so suffocating and costs so extreme that it's "effectively illegal" to build reactors.
- amanaplanacanal 2mo agoIs it safety regulation that makes nuclear so hard, or is it just that we can't seem to do large projects of any kind any more?
- beardyw 2mo agoYes, the cheque's in the post.
- anr0 2mo agopittsburgh has many old power plants that are perfect for data center converts when i go home and hear about this i'm conflicted. it brings short term economic prosperity. what's the cost if there's no commitment to clean energy in reality the developers on these projects will do whatever it takes to simply get the project done
- axus 2mo agoData centers belong in "industrial areas", ignore the snarky jokes about them being as bad as the coal plants they are replacing. People have legitimate complaints when they are built within audible distance of housing.
- stronglikedan 2mo agoNot to mention that there's plenty of room to build them well outside of developed areas altogether. Sure, there will be some logistical challenges wrt utilities, but nothing that can't be overcome - just call it a compromise.
- tolugenius 2mo agoThis reminds of the times when companies made large public statements on clean energy and going carbon free during the Obama (and partially Biden) eras. The only difference here is now is a letter to a governor, which is signaling 1) companies believe the way to solve data centers is on a state basis and 2) if they don't do it, they can perhaps blame a lack of "guidance from local officials" versus any part on their own, they have done their due dilligence. I am curious to more see what states don't get any personal mailings, I think that's a better indication than anything actually written.
- kodablah 2mo agohttps://texas-connects.com/ https://texas-connects.com/ is also running lots of commercials locally. But both this open letter _and_ the commercials intentionally skate around the resource needs. > OpenAI will pay our own way and protect residential and small-business customers [...] OpenAI will work to support new power generation in Texas Notice how this very intentionally doesn't say they will work to support generating as much or more power than they will use? Because if they could do that, they would just generate their own power. It doesn't matter if they "pay their own way", they are now competing with households. Same with water, all of these projects want to leech on existing systems because they don't even want to entertain developing their own systems. However, having worked inside Texas DCs for a long time now, I think it's just the burst that's the issue, not the concepts. Sadly they'll share our resources, but I think they should pay a premium on their energy compared to residential (but it's hard to reconcile this with other commercial ventures that do not).
- clutchdude 2mo agoThis is a play to say something without putting down the ink that binds them. > We will minimize water consumption and prioritize efficient cooling technologies, including closed-loop systems. > We will work with local communities and water providers to ensure our projects are responsibly planned around available resources I can promise you that I'll do everything to consider the needs and wants of others. But I won't promise to take actions that take those wants or needs into account, much less even actually consider them.
- deleted 2mo ago[deleted]
- throwaw12 2mo ago> OpenAI supports transparency and accountability Just like it supported 'Open AI'?
- sashank_1509 2mo agoThe AI companies are spending close to a trillion dollars building data centers. On top of that, they’re now promising they’ll handle all environmental and power needs. I believe them, they probably will do that, thats not even too expensive. They need to however recoup this investment somehow, which is the fundamental problem with a technology like AI. The only plausible way to recoup 1T is to automate large swaths of human jobs so that the companies stop spending money on humans, and instead give money to them. This is probably why the public doesn’t want AI, because AI in the rules of current society is perfectly designed to disempower and ruin humans, but is not actually capable enough to ruin humans in a state of nature. Large massive data-centers that makes this economics work is not actually a fact of life, in a less stable country they’re actually a liability. If a countries technical prowess comes from a data center then an adversary just needs to bomb it to knee cap that country. On the other hand, if a companies technical prowess comes from a thousands of well trained humans, well that’s actually not easy to get rid of. They’re not stationary, they’re adaptable, they can pick up new skills quicker and cheaper. Any king would much rather invest in humans and not AI. But in a country like US, where it’s hard to even imagine such instability, AI is perfect at outcompeting humans and ruining them short term, and ruining the country long term. No wonder, this seems to be turning out to become the most negative reaction the public has ever had to the advent of new transformative technology. Unfortunately I don’t think it will work, the AI companies are just going to steamroll them, steal their jobs and dignity and then put them on UBI and pay themselves on the back as if they did a good thing.
- macintux 2mo ago> then put them on UBI You may be too optimistic.
- vjvjvjvjghv 2mo ago“ put them on UBI” Never, ever will they do that. It’s the same bullshit like Musk telling people not to save for retirement. He can distribute his stock by now but instead he is grabbing on to more money. If there will be UBI, it will be the absolute minimum to not starve. Basically the same as welfare now. No way they are going to share the wealth.
- braiamp 2mo agoAnyone can access the letter PDF? I've been trying this link and it only timeout https://cdn.openai.com/pdf/oai_abbot-texas-letter_8-7-26.pdf https://cdn.openai.com/pdf/oai_abbot-texas-letter_8-7-26.pdf
- asdff 2mo agoIt is amazing seeing how openly corrupt red states are in recent years. At least blue states still attempt to maintain a fig leaf. Has it always been this way with the red states or have things legitimately gotten worse?
- pessimizer 2mo agoThis is a strange reaction to a (admittedly horrible) red state governor halting construction of data centers due to public objections.
- asdff 2mo agoJust the idea of companies fleeing to places like texas to do things they could not get away with elsewhere seems pretty routine at this point
- ImJamal 2mo agoHow is this corruption? There is a very real fear that electricity and water prices will increase for the average person due to AI data centers. Trying to protect the interests of the common man over that of billionaires seems like the exact opposite of corruption.
- asdff 2mo agoSmells like the governor who is a known sycophant to capital has gotten some heat among the public on data center roll out, so in comes industry seeking to self regulate itself no doubt in such a way that pulls up the ladder behind it while also not stymieing its own operations with any regulation that might actually have some teeth that might affect profitability. This is Texas after all, this is what the state seems to be for. Abbot knows his role.
- ImJamal 2mo agoAbbot may very well be corrupt, but this letter does nothing to show that. The last thing I saw is ERCOT and PUCT will be involved with the auditing of the electricity and water usage [1] which would seem to indicate that it won't be the AI industry regulating itself. It seems like OpenAI wants to regulate itself, but Abbot is currently opposed to it. Could he change his mind? Of course, but the current situation appears to be the exact opposite of what you are thinking is happening. [1] https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-directs-comprehensive-data-center-audit https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-directs-comp...
- zabriel_goss 2mo agoAs someone who lived in TX through the winter storm power crisis in 2021, I approve of the pause.
- atleastoptimal 2mo agoThe main issue with wanting to block data centers in any specific location, is the hyperscalers will just move to building them wherever politics are most favorable. If protesters in your blue state block construction, they'll just build more in red states, giving the red states more leverage in how AI progress continues. If they are blocked across the board in the US, more will be build abroad, in countries that would never give credence to anti-datacenter movements that would stall economic growth. The best option is to get everyone on the same page about AI benefits and hazards, and not be unrealistic about the way AI could shape up as a transformative element of human society.
- goatlover 2mo agoI'm guessing the people who successfully block construction will be happy the data centers are built elsewhere. I doubt they care that much about AI progress, given the goals of those building the data centers.
- atleastoptimal 2mo ago> I'm guessing the people who successfully block construction will be happy the data centers are built elsewhere. Depends on their goals. Do they want to slow down AI altogether, or just hate the concept of the building itself?
- rayiner 2mo ago[flagged]
- AgentOrange1234 2mo agoZero commitment to clean power.
- NewJazz 2mo agoI feel your concern/doom, but... It's a letter to texas... Know your audience and all that...
- whatthesmack 2mo agoI know it’s cool with the kids to talk down Texas and its folks, but you might be surprised that Texas… - produces more electricity from wind generation than any other US state. - consumes more electricity from wind generation than any other US state (3x the next biggest, Iowa). - has more installed wind generation capacity than any other state. - energy usage leads all other US states by being comprised of 22% wind generation sources.
- NewJazz 2mo agoYeah but how often does the governor brag about that? Using renewable energy and championing the use of renewable energy are different things in the political world. One reduces costs, one invites the crazies.
- strangeloops85 2mo agoGotta love how all the companies' platitudes about sustainability become ludicrous as they begin burning natural gas at prodigious scales. But don't worry, "AI will solve climate change" so we can just pump extra CO2 now, right guys? I am deeply, deeply cynical and honestly angry about these companies and their self-righteous protestations of being ethical, or public benefit corporations or whatever. Anthropic is benefiting from xAI's Memphis data center that is violating (previous, not anymore!) EPA standards, causing disproportionate impacts to nearby African-American communities. All the while, Ants appear to be floating on some higher effective altruist / B-corp plane. The little people and their petty concerns are just bumps on the road to RSI and ASI after all.
- computably 2mo agoTheir SWEs will all have Repetitive Strain Injuries long before they hit Recursive Self Improvement, I'm sure.
- spongebobstoes 2mo agoI think your anger would be better placed with the institutional barriers to building clean energy in America that prevent these infrastructure companies from doing the right thing transmission via HVDC is extremely difficult to build due to land permitting and right of way laws grid interconnections take 5+ years just to get approved, let alone built only 2 nuclear power plants have been built since 1978, each taking over 10 years
- alsetmusic 2mo agoWell, there's an admin killing clean energy so I think we know where that anger belongs. Dems suck too, but what can you do. One is worse, clearly.
- micro2588 2mo agoAs much as I wish it were different I think this would be the outcome under any administration. Natural gas in the USA is just stupidly cheap inflation adjusted, is energy dense, power plants require few land resources, pipeline infrastructure exists, robust and deep supply chain, etc. I don't hold much hope of the USA kicking the habit as it is such a competitive advantage. If we don't burn it locally it will be exported at a huge margin for geopolitical advantage. 1/3 of the CO2 reductions in the US power sector are due to renewables, 2/3 are from natural gas. Renewables would need to be backed up by additional gas capacity, although the average capacity factor would be reduced with a more robust renewable build out.
- ETH_start 2mo agoI'm always surprised by how cynical the comments on the internet are about America's technology leaders and U.S. industrial expansion.
- exabrial 2mo agoOpenAI: Commit to 117% of your datacenter power demand to be supplied by nuclear, wind, and solar, so it arrives the same day (or sooner) than your demand starts. This isn't that hard.
- nromiun 2mo agoBecause all these things require a grid, unlike on-site generators. Most grid equipment (specially high voltage transformers) are backordered and all companies have empty inventories. Unlike traditional companies these AI companies are deathly afraid of not getting to AGI first, so they can't wait.
- spongebobstoes 2mo agoit is not only "that hard", it is impossible 1/ deploying solar takes years to go through multiple layers of environmental review at municipal, state and federal levels 2/ the generator interconnection queue takes 5+ years just to permit new grid connections 3/ building new HVDC has been blocked by permits and right of way laws, which is another barrier to effective solar deployment 4/ there are only two commercial nuclear reactors built in America since 1978, and they each took 10+ years to build
- whoamii 2mo agoThis letter clearly wasn’t written by AI.
- Grombobulous 2mo agoI wonder if AI will be the thing that gets Texas to finally connect to the rest of the country’s regional power grids rather than being isolated to one state.
- alsetmusic 2mo agoI dunno. Everything's Bigger, Better, Whatever. I don't wish for anyone to suffer, but I did think it was funny when they lost power in a winter storm and I did think it was funny when Ted Cruz tried to abandon them and was caught.