We Need AI Save the World with Nuclear Fusion – Watts Up With That?

Essay by Eric Worrall

Big tech pushing back on accusations of being AI obsessed climate wreckers.

Microsoft wants us to believe AI will crack practical fusion power, driving future AI

This BS ends at some point, right?

Thomas Claburn 
Fri 9 May 2025  // 11:23 UTC 

Microsoft believes AI can hasten development of nuclear fusion as a practical energy source, which could in turn accelerate answers to the question of how to power AI.

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“The pursuit of nuclear fusion as a limitless, clean energy source has long been one of humanity’s most ambitious scientific goals,” three Microsoft Research boffins – Kenji Takeda, Shruti Rajurkar, and Ade Famoti – wrote in a post published Wednesday.

“While scalable fusion energy is still years away, researchers are now exploring how AI can help accelerate fusion research and bring this energy to the grid sooner.”

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Such speculation is needed because AI is not currently sustainable. As the UN Environment Program observed last year, “The proliferating datacenters that house AI servers produce electronic waste. They are large consumers of water, which is becoming scarce in many places. They rely on critical minerals and rare elements, which are often mined unsustainably. And they use massive amounts of electricity, spurring the emission of planet-warming greenhouse gases.”

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Enter Clippy: “I see you’re building a fusion reactor. Would you like some help with that?”

Read more: https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/09/microsoft_ai_fusion/

I have to say, I like this new green big tech activist plan to defer serious emissions reduction efforts until affordable nuclear fusion is available. If this is the latest green position, I can get on board with that plan, so long as they develop nuclear fusion on their own dime.