Leading AI startups make moves to address criticism of their technology: 'We're here to talk about the revolution happening'

Use of artificial intelligence has been heavily criticized for the massive amount of energy required to power it and the massive amount of water required to cool its servers. Some leading AI startups are now ramping up efforts to address these concerns, aiming to show that the technology could be a useful tool in achieving a more sustainable future, TechDay has reported. 

Moderating the Sustainable Futures Showcase at the NVIDIA GTC global conference for AI developers in late March, NVIDIA's Tenika Versey Walker welcomed a group of tech leaders to the table to share how their companies are pursuing climate entrepreneurship.

"We're here to talk about the revolution happening in AI and climate innovation," Walker said, per TechDay.

Panelist Billy Libby, CEO at Upper 90, said his investment firm, "[focuses] on helping businesses finance equipment and infrastructure with non-dilutive capital."

Libby noted Crusoe Energy as an example. Upper 90's client was able to finance generators that would more effectively capture the wasted gas resulting from oil and gas production, reducing the environmental impacts of conventional energy operations. 

Aya Saed and Christina Cubeta of Scope3 introduced their company's open-source platform, which measures and optimizes the environmental footprint of AI. Saed told the audience the platform tracks "energy usage, material consumption, and hardware efficiency" to identify areas for improvement and reduce pollution. 

Scope3 recently collaborated with Taboola, a partner with NVIDIA's program for startups. "Taboola's migration from [central processing units] to NVIDIA's [graphics processing units] resulted in a 62% reduction in carbon emissions and a 55% decrease in water usage," Saed shared. She said that upgrading the system's hardware allowed for greater efficiency in completing certain tasks, leading to less energy consumption overall. 

Stanford University geophysics professor Rosemary Knight presented the institution's ongoing work on a sensor network to monitor groundwater flow. As Knight previously explained on the Climate Break podcast, "We have all this above-the-ground, engineered infrastructure in California that moves water around. What we need to figure out is where the natural infrastructure is." 

Since AI can draw on water supplies so greatly, Knight's description of a system with the potential to improve water management and storage, boosting resilience against droughts, could be of particular interest.

Other experts and executives shared their business strategies to help mitigate the environmental impacts of AI, reflecting, if optimistically, a partnership between scientists and business leaders worldwide that's already resulting in some promising collaborations.

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For example, scientists in China are using AI to help solve the fusion energy puzzle, with the potential to unlock an unlimited energy source. In the United Kingdom, the startup DRIFT Energy is using AI to find the ideal sea conditions in which to produce green hydrogen. 

It's possible that global policies could help not only to safeguard against extreme resource consumption from AI but also nurture groundbreaking innovations. The United Nations Environment Programme recommended in 2024 that, among other things, countries could develop "standardized procedures for measuring the environmental impact of AI" and "regulations that require companies to disclose the direct environmental consequences of AI-based products and services." Other UNEP suggestions included encouraging companies to improve AI's efficiency so that algorithms use less energy and water.

TechDay wrapped up its snapshot of the event by spotlighting a hopeful proclamation from Saed: "AI's future isn't just about innovation. It's about ensuring that innovation is sustainable for generations to come."

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