Today, we launched a call for tenders to establish up to 7 AI Gigafactories across Europe, boosting Europe’s computing capacity and unlocking more than €30 billion in investment.
I am pleased to see Member States, industry, and the Commission coming together to build these facilities, which are key to strengthening our technological sovereignty.
This is a milestone for Europe in becoming an AI Continent.
@HennaVirkkunen of all the things to burn €30 billion on, you chose an objective economic bubble that hastens global warming... and you're celebrating this?
@danielquinn@HennaVirkkunen Good thing is that it's European project, so by the time they are ready to start with building, AI bubble will already burst
@engineer@danielquinn@HennaVirkkunen Historically, that has not prevented the projects with signed contracts from going forward. A lot of (EU-funded) Blockchain/Web3/NFT research projects were carried out long after their valuations had collapsed.
I have an idea here: We *do* need to get off the Amerikaanse bigtech cloud. Let's build datacentres, but let's design them so they're (a) _efficient_ and (b) _flexible_, so when we finally get 'round to actually building them (and may it be because AI collapses tomorrow, with all its inefficiency and theft and planet-harming), we can build for ordinary cloud load, sustainable power, and a general win-win for everybody, not just billionaires pushing AI.
GenAI/LLM is a technological dead end like asbestos or blockchain. It will accelerate the climate crisis, deprive communities of energy and deskill the people who use it, causing far more damage than utility. The damage will be long-lasting, people in the future will curse us for going down this path.
The money would be far better spent on other areas of data sovereignty.
@HennaVirkkunen This is just about the worst idea imaginable. Some would compare it to tulipmania on horse steroids - but at least tulips are real & people like them.
@robelix being an EU financed project, they'll do the same they did in Web3/NFT/Blockchain: allow the projects to go forward while knowing fully well that it'll never bring anything to fruition. @HennaVirkkunen
@HennaVirkkunen You are "pleased to see"...what? 🔥 There are forest fires all over the continent, serious heat waves and droughts and you are " pleased to see "...what? Wow, I really don't know what to say. 🤷♀️
@HennaVirkkunen We should be investing in renewable energy and battery storage instead. AI adds little value for humankind, with significant downsides.
@HennaVirkkunen AI is basically the digital version of gasoline… Do NOT do encourage those dependencies.
For automobiles the state happily built roads all over the place, and now we can barely travel sustainably. We can’t get rid of the cars because politicians did not prioritise trains and sustainable alternatives. DO NOT do the same with the AI. Keep the digital economy sustainable, and for god’s sake do not copy the unsustainable US.
@HennaVirkkunen I am hopeful nothing will come out of this except an enormous waste of money. Please aim for a better best case next time, okay? Doing nothing, for example.
Who told you, that there is a "need" for Europe to "become an AI continent"? Google? Microsoft? Nvidia? CEO ranks with no clue, what they are talking about? Investors? Lobbyists?
Europe has to become - CO2 emissions neutral - more social - more educated
I recommend you to study diverse papers that are not promoted by interested parties, but written by scientists.
Neutral networks are NOT Turing complete - and as such there is no singularity in view, regardless what Sam 1/
@HennaVirkkunen It is also just about the dumbest thing you could possibly do. But hey, it's not like Europe is burning or has its rivers running dry. So let's pour some more fossil fuel on top and extract all the remaining water. Why not? Jolly good time. 🤷
France burning in the distance. Two people enjoying the beach with the burning view in front.
Europe is burning, but EU is prioritizing wasting energy on AI datacenters.
@HennaVirkkunen I'm openning the call for the AI Gigafactories to fuck right off.
- LLM is a technological deadend, - LLMs are built in deeply immoral and largely illegal manner with stealing peoples work without their consent, - It's elitist, closing that stolen knowledge behind subscription that poorer people won't be able to pay, - Those gigafactories gussle up an ungodly amount of energy that should be used by the people, moving the goalpost of only ecological energy production further away, - Calling them gigafactories is the biggest lie since they provide only a really small amount of work places for highly trained people. - What are the chances that those gigafactories will be used in some degree by companies that use technology to support palestinian genocide? I guess high.
@HennaVirkkunen absolutely awful plan. Huge waste of money. Benefits only the tech oligarchs that will control everyone else. Paying for our own destruction!!!
@HennaVirkkunen Which social-practical usage do AI gigafactories have - do they lower the cost of living for EU citizens? Nope, they do the complete opposite by being energy hungry blackholes bumping up energy and water prices.
Do they create jobs? Nope, they destroy more jobs and create an issue a future generation will suffer. Since CEOs replace entry level jobs with AI, there will be no senior workers when Gen X leaves the job market
Do they create profit? Only for shell firms and tax fraud
@HennaVirkkunen And that is meant to benefit whom? Those at the top? Or regular Europeans? The folks at the European Commission need to get their act together on this one, least they want to be out of job. As a reminder: by the people, and for the people.
@HennaVirkkunen i see you're keen to take part in the 2.9 Trillion dollar debt house of cards the big 5 tech companies are stacking up. It wouldn't do for the EU to escape from the upcoming rug-pull when glorified auto-complete proves to only be that.
You're already fighting wildfires on a scale similar to that which devastated Canberra almost 25 years ago. Bordeaux, France is literally getting roasted as I type this, and it's only a matter of time before leaf litter gets hoovered up by that firestorm weather system and starts firebombing the place.
Massive heat generating facilities like "AI" datacentres Will Only Make This Worse!
You realize that the slogan "becoming an AI Continent" is not just beyond stupid as a catchphrase (as forests are burning), but also an in-your-face insult to any actually intelligent citizen?
@HennaVirkkunen Or we could invest that money into renewable energy, and ways to deal with the droughts that plague Europe, instead of building things that will accelerate our problems.
@HennaVirkkunen@ec.social-network.europa.eu This is EXACTLY what people DON'T want. How can you be so out of touch? People vastly hate AI. Where an AI datacenter is made, water is wasted, electricity prices go up. Not to mention the awful possibility of forests being cut down for it.
@HennaVirkkunen@ec.social-network.europa.eu Not to mention the fact that this will make computer hardware components prices go further up, don't you realize that people are struggling to get their hands on computer parts for personal use because of ai datacenter? We should be able to afford our own hardware, not rent cloud systems that require a connection to work. This is horrible for so many reasons.
@HennaVirkkunen AI-datakeskukset ovat helvetinmoinen syöpä: ne ahmivat sähköä ja vettä ilman, että tuottavat yhteiskunnalle juuri mitään oikeaa arvoa. Samalla ne jauhavat alleen taidetta, kulttuuria ja ihmisten luovuutta, kun kaikki pitää korvata halvalla, sieluttomalla tekoälysisällöllä. Koko touhu on vitun kestämätöntä, eikä sitä pitäisi juhlia edistyksenä vaan pitää varoittavana esimerkkinä siitä, mihin ahneus voi johtaa.
@HennaVirkkunen So you have no mercy what so ever for upcoming generations? Did you notice the recent natural fires in southern Europe? Have you heard of something called #Climate Crisis"? Common sense? :p
PS: it is world overshoot day today. We have no earthly renewable resources left to use this year.
@HennaVirkkunen What an absolutely horrendous thing to be pleased about. "AI" is worse than CFCs, tetraethyl lead, and thalidomide combined. The pro-AI crowd all sound like drug addicts and cultists when they aren't obvious grifters, racists, and fascists. It's awful for the environment, causes what amounts to brain damage in its users, it relies on stolen works, and is extraordinarily damaging to society as a whole. Why in the hell would you want to invest in such an insane venture?
@HennaVirkkunen this is beyond stupid (as in burning money and burning up the planet) for something that barely works, sometimes. The bubble will have burst and we’ll all have mud on our faces (at best) by the time anything concrete could come out of this.
@HennaVirkkunen I'm sure there's nothing to convince you that this a mistake, but I'll say it anyway: This is absolute madness. The continent is on fire, energy prices are rising, drought everywhere and you believe it is a good thing to spend billions to make it even worse? I'd suggest you wake up, but I know you won't...
@HennaVirkkunen May I suggest a cheaper option? Invest in VW diesel gigafactories. It will have the same climate effects, and we already have the technology, where as with AI we would be starting from scratch unless we end up buying American or Chinese, missing the point of digital sovereignty.
And the result may be useful (if we can still find diesel) in the post AI collapse Mad Max style climate hellscape you seem to be going all in on.
@HennaVirkkunen look i'm all about EU data sovereignty in the face of US cloud monopolies, but for fuck's sake, read the room. €30B could be better spent on more immediate problems, not having a bullshit machine produce more bullshit.
@HennaVirkkunen We already are at 36⁰C today. Some areas of my region have less than one week of water left for irrigation. Other areas of my country are on fire. Other areas of the EU are on fire. But no, let's become the genAI Continent...
@HennaVirkkunen what the fuck, people. Stop this shit, people and species are dying. There is no upside to this other than for people without a conscience.
@HennaVirkkunen seriously, right in the middle of the worst heatwaves SO FAR, with an upcoming even bleaker future, with half of Europe LITERALLY ON FIRE, the EU is going to donate billions to some of most climate-impacting and useless industries? Where did any of you get the idea that that was a smart thing to do?
How about you invest that money into gaining independence from the oil industry, given how impactful that has been already even in purely financial terms?
@HennaVirkkunen We would be glad if you could ask people before launching such stupid projects !
I'm sure the vote wouldn't be in favore of AI gigafactories, there's so many things to do to protect Europe and its citizens, so that they can live better in a living protected nature !
@HennaVirkkunen I hope you will consider how strongly represented people in computing is here on Mastodon and how many negative reactions you're getting for this call. The two might be related.
@HennaVirkkunen tell me you dont care about your job, your responsibility, the EU, wildlife, humanity, the climate, a liveable future- without telling me you don't care about those things.
@HennaVirkkunen why are we consuming US propaganda? Don't spend my tax money on bailing out failing "AI" businesses who can't even think of a viable business model.
@HennaVirkkunen Hey I know you like tech that calls you super smart with the bestest ideas, but how about I send you an email every day that tells you that and you spend the money on renewables instead. Sound good?
@HennaVirkkunen And then when this industry collapses you can be the specialest person who was like, "I didn't waste your tax money on this, I improved the climate for us all instead". Omg you could be so cool and sexy if you did that, can you imagine?
@HennaVirkkunen This is not in the interest of European citiziens. Parts oft Europe is burning, another is hiding inside from the extreme heat wave, we got low water levels in rivers, depleating ground water. Nobody needs this! Only autocrats that want to control desperate stupid people.
@HennaVirkkunen Even if we disregard all the ethical issues of LLMs like theft, scams, and so much more. Even then when the AI bubble collapses that'll be €30 billion down the drain. This will go down as one of the worst decision anyone in the EU has ever made....
Attempting to rebrand your AI datacentres as "gigafactories" is an impressively bad way to announce this mistake. They are not factories. They do not manufacture anything. They run software, and they soak up surplus investment capital and other resources which are for some reason in need of burning.
People of the recent past and the recent future alike would have a hard time understanding how anyone could think that "Europe becoming an AI Continent" is a phrase that could be taken seriously by anyone.
So, just to confirm: you observed the US become dominated by billionaires and exploitative companies who are throwing trillions or dollars at technology that provides marginal (at best) benefits to society and entrenches their power, and your reaction was 'the EU should do that too!'?
For comparison, the amount that you're burning on this is more than twice as much as you'd need for the EU to build a competitive range of memory-safe sovereign CPUs from microcontroller up to server class devices and port most open-source software to run on them. This would reduce the attack surface for all EU infrastructure significantly and provide strong sovereignty guarantees.
Can you share how you did a cost-benefit calculation and decided that chasing a big-tech fad was the best return on investment for the bloc?
@HennaVirkkunen Henna Virkkunen, palokunnassa sytytyspuolella. Toivottavasti sujahtaa sopivasti euroja taskuun niin ei tarvitse tuntea omantunnontuskia.
not a single person in your entourage with the know-how and the guts to tell you that mimicking the US in their descent into tech -fascism is the dumbest possible move? Can you at least explain how this squandering of resources should be supposed to help EU industry at all?
@HennaVirkkunen the nuclear power station Romania had to shut down due to lack of water provides 1.3GW; 20% of the nation's electricity, or enough for 1 or 2 large AI data centers. These things are opportunities to send huge amounts of money out of the EU to import hardware that will be worthless within 3 years and will consume obscene amounts of power in the meantime
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