Extropic

Thermodynamic Computing From Zero to One

Digital Watch Observatory

Experts caution that AI growth could double data centre energy use

Energy demand from AI

Energy Supply For Ai

Axios

Data Centers Will Cause Higher Electricity Prices Study Finds North Carolina State

SciTechera

E1 Ventures

Portfolio: Extropics Thermodynamic Computing, Defined and Demystified

GillVerd

Y Combinator

Extropic is building thermodynamic computing hardware

Inside X0 and XTR-0

Substack

What Happens If AI Hits An Energy Wall?

LinkedIn

Explaining Extropic AIs Thermodynamic Computing Through TRIZ: Embracing Randomness as the Solution

Pew Research Center

What we know about energy use at U.S. data centers amid the AI boom

Wired

Extropic Aims to Disrupt the Data Center Bonanza

WinBuzzer

Extropic Unveils Thermodynamic AI Chips to Combat the Industry’s Energy Crisis

The Rundown AI

Extropic's 10,000x AI energy breakthrough

Metaculus

Chinese foundry with ≥20% of semi market?

Elon Musk

Rishi Sunak

Kamala Harris

Bill Gates

Andrew Ng

Yoshua Bengio

Fei-Fei Li

Demis Hassabis

Melanie Mitchell

Sam Altman

Dario Amodei

Geoffrey Hinton

Yann LeCun

Gary Marcus

Max Tegmark

Connor Leahy

Eliezer Yudkowsky

Jaan Tallinn

Marc Andreessen

Eric Schmidt

Norbert Wiener

Arthur Clarke

Irving John Good

Claude Shannon

Hans Moravec

John Smart

There's a "wall of fear-mongering and doomerism" in the AI world right now.

"Worrying about AI today is like worrying about overpopulation on Mars."

Concerns that AI could pose a threat to humanity is "preposterously ridiculous."

Claiming AI poses an existential threat is "such an extreme" and risks "wip[ing] out some of its potential benefits."

"I'm more concerned about... the risks that are here and now [than the existential threat of AI]."

Current AI is "not anywhere close" to posing an existential threat but it could in the future.

AI is the "biggest existential threat" to humanity.

AGI's worst-case scenario would be "lights-out for all of us."

Powerful AI systems "taking control" pose an "existential threat."

AI has a "10 to 25 per cent" chance of destroying humanity.

"The most likely result of building a superhumanly smart AI... is that literally everyone on Earth will die."

Does AI Pose an Existential Threat to Humanity?

Joe Biden

Stuart Russell

Tristan Harris

Cédric O

"AI may cause the most dramatic and sustained economic boom of all time."

AI will make the world "way wealthier" and lead to a "productivity boom."

AI is an "amplifier of human intelligence" and will help the economy thrive.

AI will enable "universal high income" in place of "universal basic income."

"AI may become the heart of future economic growth in the coming decades."

AI harms could include "disrupting economies."

AI could "disrupt job markets."

"AI and technological unemployment" are the "biggest problem we face" from an "economic point of view."

"The moment superintelligent AI emerges, the human economy will end."

Will AI Bring Economic Risks?

Vladimir Putin

Hod Lipson

Yuval Noah Harari

Sundar Pichai

"[T]here will be far greater jobs" thanks to AI and "the jobs of today will get better."

AI will probably "take over a lot of jobs," but could also "create new kinds of jobs"

"[W]e might witness the creation of a massive new unworking class."

AI "is not going to put a lot of people out of work permanently" but work will change.

AI might take away more than just "drudge work."

"AI software will be in direct competition with a lot of people for jobs."

"Automation and AI will take away pretty much all of our jobs."

Eventually, "AI will be able to do everything" and jobs will exist only for "personal satisfaction."

Will AI Replace All Jobs?

Shane Legg

Society is more likely to get "cat-level" or "dog-level" AI years before human-level AI.

"[W]e will eventually reach AGI... and quite possibly before the end of this century."

"Superhuman AIs" will be achieved "between a few years and a couple of decades."

"Digital intelligence" could overtake us within "5 to 20 years."

We may achieve "something like AGI or AGI-like in the next decade."

"[W]e could get to real AGI in the next decade."

"Human-level" AI could occur in "two or three years."

"I'd be surprised if we don't have AGI by [2029]."

Will AI Surpass Human Intelligence, and When?

Extropic, a Boston-area startup founded by former Google quantum computing researchers, has developed thermodynamic sampling units that use probabilistic bits instead of traditional processing methods, claiming energy efficiency gains of up to 10,000 times over current GPUs.</span

Extropic, a Boston-area startup founded by former Google quantum computing researchers, has developed thermodynamic sampling units that use probabilistic bits instead of traditional processing methods, claiming energy efficiency gains of up to 10,000 times over current GPUs.

U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, representing over 4% of the country's total electricity consumption, with projections showing this figure could reach 426 TWh by 2030 according to International Energy Agency estimates.</span

Scientific American

U.S. data centers consumed 183 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, representing over 4% of the country's total electricity consumption, with projections showing this figure could reach 426 TWh by 2030 according to International Energy Agency estimates.

The XTR-0 development platform consists of a CPU, FPGA and two sockets for thermodynamic sampling units, with early testing partners including weather modeling companies and government representatives who are evaluating the probabilistic computing approach.</span

The XTR-0 development platform consists of a CPU, FPGA and two sockets for thermodynamic sampling units, with early testing partners including weather modeling companies and government representatives who are evaluating the probabilistic computing approach.

Natural gas supplies over 40% of electricity for U.S. data centers as of 2024, while renewables provide about 24%, nuclear power around 20% and coal approximately 15%, with natural gas projected to remain the largest energy source through 2030.</span

Natural gas supplies over 40% of electricity for U.S. data centers as of 2024, while renewables provide about 24%, nuclear power around 20% and coal approximately 15%, with natural gas projected to remain the largest energy source through 2030.

Extropic's thermodynamic sampling units harness electron fluctuations to model probabilities directly in silicon, using probabilistic circuits that sample from distributions rather than performing traditional matrix multiplication operations required by current AI systems.</span

Extropic's thermodynamic sampling units harness electron fluctuations to model probabilities directly in silicon, using probabilistic circuits that sample from distributions rather than performing traditional matrix multiplication operations required by current AI systems.

Data center expansion could lead to an 8% increase in average U.S. electricity bills by 2030, with some high-demand markets potentially seeing increases exceeding 25%, as utilities pass infrastructure upgrade costs to consumers through rate adjustments.</span

Data center expansion could lead to an 8% increase in average U.S. electricity bills by 2030, with some high-demand markets potentially seeing increases exceeding 25%, as utilities pass infrastructure upgrade costs to consumers through rate adjustments.

Startup Claims 10,000x Energy Savings Over GPUs with New Chip

Startup Claims 10,000x Energy Savings Over GPUs with New Chip

The Controversies

Andreessen

Ng

LeCun

Mitchell

Li

Bengio

Musk

Altman

Hinton

Amodei

Yudkowsky

Andreessen

Altman

LeCun

Musk

Bengio

Mitchell

Harris

Russell

Tallinn

Altman

Mitchell

Harari

LeCun

Hinton

Ng

Lipson

Musk

LeCun

Marcus

Bengio

Hinton

Hassabis

Altman

Amodei

Musk

Go Deeper

Sign Up for Our Free NewslettersSign Up for Our Free Newsletters

Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters
Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters