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🇦🇹 Austria /Technology

AI needs ever more power, and Europe urgently needs new answers

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • A podcast featuring AI researcher Feiyu Xu and climate economist Gernot Wagner examines AI's rapid expansion and its effects on Europe's energy supply.
  • Xu says Europe risks losing technological, economic and geopolitical influence, while warning about AI terrorism and autonomous weapons.
  • Wagner argues that AI's growing electricity demand is adding pressure to the energy transition, even as renewable energy costs fall.

Artificial intelligence is consuming more electricity as data centers expand worldwide, while Europe faces questions about both its technological position and its energy supply.

Those issues drive a new episode of Die Presse's Alpbach podcast, featuring AI researcher Feiyu Xu and Austrian climate economist Gernot Wagner. Xu says Europe risks falling behind not only technologically, but also in economic and geopolitical bargaining power.

She also warns about the risks posed by the misuse of artificial intelligence, including AI-enabled terrorism and autonomous weapons. “How do we ensure that AI does not fall into the wrong hands?” she asks.

How do we ensure that AI does not fall into the wrong hands?

— Feiyu XuThe AI researcher warned about the risks of AI terrorism and autonomous weapons.

Wagner discusses the pressure the AI boom places on the energy transition. New data centers are being built around the world, most of them in the United States, while renewable energy remains too slow to expand despite falling costs. The episode examines whether renewable power can meet the electricity needs of data centers and how much control Europe still has over its future.

Musician Hubert von Goisern approaches the broader debates with mixed feelings. “There is such a dark cloud hanging over everything,” he says. The podcast, titled “What Matters in Alpbach,” is Die Presse's audio journal of the European Forum Alpbach. It is available through the newspaper's website and app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast platforms.

There is such a dark cloud hanging over everything.

— Hubert von GoisernThe musician described his feelings about the future-oriented debates at Alpbach.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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