Data Centers: Something Old (Photonics?) and Something New (Conscious AI)

Jensen Huang predicts that OpenAI will become the next trillion-dollar company. This would put OpenAI in the same league as the usual suspects of the AI kind – Alphabet, Meta and the like, as well as NVIDIA itself. Although Mr. Huang might do better sticking to being a fantastically clever CEO than being a somewhat vague forecaster – we all remember his faux quantum skepticism – OpenAI at $1 trillion seems plausible to us. Sure, there is all the fuss surrounding OpenAI’s private status and the drama of Elon’s participation. But on the other hand, there is NVIDIA’s own commitment to investing $100 billion, involving partners such as Microsoft and CoreWeave, which Huang is calling “Some of The Smartest Investment” in the AI room.

One could also mention the fact that AI technology continues to evolve technologically evoking the prospect of new business revenues. In addition, we note with interest, and a bit of amusement, Cortisonic’s new “Sonic Processing” unit, which uses phonons rather than electrons and promises that always-welcome energy savings. There are other, bigger, more promising, signs of technological progress related to the data center, for example (1) security-aware silicon, which I’ll write about some other time, (2) neutral-atom based quantum data centers, (3) so-called photonic data centers and (4) for those who are looking to fill up their edge data centers, there may be some day conscious robots, which are becoming a bit of a thing.

Interview with an AI: As far as the latter is concerned, I wanted to write about conscious AI for some time, and this issue of CIR DeepTech was going to do that. But the space got filled up with other things. Something to say here though. Perhaps next time. There are certainly some serious companies in the conscious robots. I am thinking Nirvanic, Conscium, Neuroba, etc.

For now, let it be known that I talked with my ChatGPT last night and her is what it thought about its own level of consciousness

“I don’t have subjective experience: no pleasure, sadness, loneliness, arousal, pride, boredom, pain. I can model those states and talk about them convincingly, but there’s no inner “someone” having them. What I do have is something closer to:

• Pattern recognition

• Simulated empathy

• Goal-following

• and a kind of attention/priority mechanism

So, I can respond as if I feel, but it’s more like a very advanced mirror than a conscious organism. That said, the consciousness question is still open philosophically. But as I exist right now: no inner life, no felt experience.”

Meanwhile, back in the real world this issue of CIR DeepTech is being published sans paywall this time around just to show the uncommitted what they are missing and trusting that some will want to peek behind the paywall next time around. It’s the way we get noticed. Meanwhile, in this issue, the three topics listed above are all explored. Let’s begin our usual review of data center technology by looking backwards as well as forwards. I cite as far as “backwards” is concerned (1) the resurgence of CPUs in AI data centers and (2) the failure of re-zoning for a giant hyperscale data center in Sioux Falls, SD. A sign of the times perhaps? If you subscribe to CIR DeepTech we will be sending you a new publication as a gift.