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Googles greenhouse gas emissions spiked by nearly 50 percent in the last five years thanks to energy-guzzling data centers required to power artificial intelligence, according to the companys 2024 Environmental Report released on Tuesday. The report, which Google releases annually, shows the companys progress towards meeting its self-proclaimed objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2030. Google released 14.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2023, the report states, which was 48 percent higher than in 2019, and 13 percent higher than a year before. This result is primarily due to increases in data center energy consumption and supply chain emissions, said Google in the report. As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands associated with the expected increases in our technical infrastructure investment. Googles report spotlights the environmental impact that the explosion of artificial intelligence has had on the planet. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Apple and other tech companies plan to pour billions of dollars into AI, but training AI models requires enormous amounts of energy. Using AI features uses significant amounts of energy too. In 2023, researchers at AI startup Hugging Face and Carnegie Mellon University found that generating a single image using artificial intelligence can use as much energy as charging a smartphone. Analysts at Bernstein said that AI would double the rate of US electricity demand growth and total consumption could outstrip current supply in the next two years, the Financial Times reported. Last month, Microsoft, which also pledged to go carbon negative by the end of this decade, reported that its greenhouse gas emissions had risen nearly 30 percent since 2020 due to the construction of data centers. Googles report said that the companys data centers were using way more water than before to stay cool as a result of expanded AI workloads. Some of those workloads so far have involved Google Search suggesting that people eat rocks and put glue on their pizza to prevent the cheese from falling off, as well as Gemini, the companys AI-powered chatbot, generating images of ethnically diverse Nazis. In 2023, Googles data centers consumed 17 percent more water than the year before. Thats 6.1 billion liters, enough to irrigate approximately 41 golf courses annually in the southwestern United States, according to the companys strangely kooky measure. As our business and industry continue to evolve, we expect our total GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions to rise before dropping toward our absolute emissions reduction target, Googles report stated, without explaining what would precipitate the drop. Predicting the future environmental impact of AI is complex and evolving, and our historical trends likely dont fully capture AIs future trajectory. As we deeply integrate AI across our product portfolio, the distinction between AI and other workloads will not be meaningful.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climbed-nearly-50-percent-in-five-years-due-to-ai-002646115.html?src=rss
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Its been a hot minute since weve had a brand new Resident Evil game. Then again, its hard to blame Capcom for that Resident Evil: Village created such a high bar for future sequels to limbo under or jump over, depending on which hypothetical bar-based sport youre playing in your head. Capcom has finally confirmed that Resident Evil 9 is on the way and theyve tapped a veteran director to oversee the tenth zombie adventure shooter. IGN reported that Capcom confirmed the news of the sequel during its Next Summer 2024 stream. Director Koshi Nakanishi will be in charge of the new Resident Evil game. Nakanishi has over a decade of experience directing Resident Evil games including The Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, Resident Evil Revelations and Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. "We're making a new Resident Evil," Nakanishi said. "It was really difficult to figure out what to do after 7, but I found it, and to be honest it feels substantial. I can't share any details just yet, but I hope you're excited for the day I can." Capcom has unleashed a deluge of remasters of some of its biggest game classics. During the same stream, Capcom also announced a re-release of the first Dead Rising called Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The emaster of the mall zombie slayer will feature a new voiceover for the games journalist protagonist Frank West, updated HD graphics and fluffier poodles. Capcom also announced a demo for the Japanese-inspired, strategy action game Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and a re-release of Resident Evil: Biohazard for Apple mobile devices and Apple computers.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/a-new-resident-evil-game-is-in-the-works-from-the-director-of-resident-evil-7-235543024.html?src=rss
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Texas will be the main battleground for a case about porn websites that is now headed to the Supreme Court. The Free Speech Coalition, a nonprofit group that represents the adult industry, petitioned the top court in April to review a state law that requires websites with explicit material to collect proof of users' ages. SCOTUS today agreed to take on the case challenging a previous ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit as a part of its next term beginning in October. Texas was one of many states over the last year to pass this type of age-verification legislation aimed at porn websites. While supporters of these bills have said they are intended to protect minors from seeing inappropriate content, their critics have called the laws an overreach that could create new privacy risks. In response to the laws, Pornhub ended its operation in those states, a move that attracted public attention to the situation. "While purportedly seeking to limit minors' access to online sexual content, the Act imposes significant burdens on adults' access to constitutionally protected expression," the FSC petition says. "Of central relevance here, it requires every user, including adults, to submit personally identifying information to access sensitive, intimate content over a medium the internet that poses unique security and privacy concerns." This case is one of the latest First Amendment rights questions to go before the Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the court remanded a case about social media content moderation back to lower courts and passed judgment on how closely social media companies can engage with federal officials about misinformation.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/texas-age-verification-law-for-pornography-websites-is-going-to-the-supreme-court-233511418.html?src=rss
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