How can you combat the sustainability issues with AI?
CHRISTINA SHIM: I think we really are focused on this throughout the full stack of AI. It’ s important to be intentional with processing, the location of that and your infrastructure. We are really focussed on everything, from the chips and infrastructure to the software perspective of building a model and its application.
I think intentionality is really important. Being deliberate about how you are managing and making your decisions. Asking‘ What is the model we really need to accomplish these goals? How big does it need to be? Where is the infrastructure being run?’
If you are able to use the most energy efficient and effective infrastructure, that really helps with your energy use, your water use and costs. Our Spyre accelerator chip lets mainframes run AI much, much more efficiently. It really saves an incredible amount, up to 23 kilowatts per second of energy. This is the equivalent to what 20 US homes use per year.
I keep using the word‘ intentional’ because I think it’ s really important. So really being deliberate about how you are managing and making your decisions. What is the model that we need really to accomplish what we need to?
Locating your processing by renewable power is also really important. A lot of our co-located data centres, about 75 %, rely on renewable energy.
172 April 2025