The company aims to offer electricity for as low as one cent per kilowatt-hour minus subsidies and plans to deliver its modules later this year. The move comes as the AI industry faces increasing pressure to address its high energy consumption, with data centers where AI models are trained currently accounting for 2% of global electricity consumption. This figure could rise to a quarter of power consumption in the U.S. by 2030.
Key takeaways:
- Exowatt, an energy startup, is developing modules that store energy as heat and produce electricity for AI data centers, with a $20 million investment from investors including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
- The company's modules are shipping container-sized and fitted with solar lenses that convert the sun's energy into heat, which can be stored for up to 24 hours and then used to produce electricity.
- Exowatt aims to offer electricity for as low as one cent per kilowatt-hour minus subsidies, and plans to deliver its modules later this year.
- Generative AI uses a significant amount of energy, with data centers where AI models are trained accounting for 2% of global electricity consumption, a figure that could rise to a quarter of power consumption in the U.S. by 2030.