Stephen Dubner

Indeed, the biggest tech firms in the world are all racing one another to the top of the AI mountain. They've all invested heavily in AI and the markets have, so far at least, rewarded them. The share prices of the so-called magnificent seven stocks, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla, rose more than 60% in 2024.

And these seven stocks now represent 33% of the value of the S&P 500. This pursuit of more and better AI will have knock-on effects, too. Consider their electricity needs. One estimate finds that building the data centers to train and operate the new breed of AI models will require 60 gigawatts of energy capacity. That's enough to power roughly a third of the homes in the U.S.

And these seven stocks now represent 33% of the value of the S&P 500. This pursuit of more and better AI will have knock-on effects, too. Consider their electricity needs. One estimate finds that building the data centers to train and operate the new breed of AI models will require 60 gigawatts of energy capacity. That's enough to power roughly a third of the homes in the U.S.

And these seven stocks now represent 33% of the value of the S&P 500. This pursuit of more and better AI will have knock-on effects, too. Consider their electricity needs. One estimate finds that building the data centers to train and operate the new breed of AI models will require 60 gigawatts of energy capacity. That's enough to power roughly a third of the homes in the U.S.

In order to generate all that electricity and to keep their commitments to clean energy, OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have all invested big in nuclear power. Microsoft recently announced a plan to help revive Three Mile Island.

In order to generate all that electricity and to keep their commitments to clean energy, OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have all invested big in nuclear power. Microsoft recently announced a plan to help revive Three Mile Island.

In order to generate all that electricity and to keep their commitments to clean energy, OpenAI, Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have all invested big in nuclear power. Microsoft recently announced a plan to help revive Three Mile Island.

If you want to learn more about the potential for a nuclear power renaissance in the U.S., we made an episode about that, number 516, called Nuclear Power Isn't Perfect, Is It Good Enough? Meanwhile, do a handful of computer scientists at the University of Chicago have any chance of slowing down this AI juggernaut? Coming up after the break, we will hear how Ben Zhao's poison works.

If you want to learn more about the potential for a nuclear power renaissance in the U.S., we made an episode about that, number 516, called Nuclear Power Isn't Perfect, Is It Good Enough? Meanwhile, do a handful of computer scientists at the University of Chicago have any chance of slowing down this AI juggernaut? Coming up after the break, we will hear how Ben Zhao's poison works.

If you want to learn more about the potential for a nuclear power renaissance in the U.S., we made an episode about that, number 516, called Nuclear Power Isn't Perfect, Is It Good Enough? Meanwhile, do a handful of computer scientists at the University of Chicago have any chance of slowing down this AI juggernaut? Coming up after the break, we will hear how Ben Zhao's poison works.

I'm Stephen Dubner. This is Freakonomics Radio. We'll be right back. In his computer science lab at the University of Chicago, Ben Zhao and his team have created a pair of tools designed to prevent artificial intelligence programs from exploiting the images created by human artists. These tools are called Glaze and Nightshade. They work in similar ways, but with different targets.

I'm Stephen Dubner. This is Freakonomics Radio. We'll be right back. In his computer science lab at the University of Chicago, Ben Zhao and his team have created a pair of tools designed to prevent artificial intelligence programs from exploiting the images created by human artists. These tools are called Glaze and Nightshade. They work in similar ways, but with different targets.

I'm Stephen Dubner. This is Freakonomics Radio. We'll be right back. In his computer science lab at the University of Chicago, Ben Zhao and his team have created a pair of tools designed to prevent artificial intelligence programs from exploiting the images created by human artists. These tools are called Glaze and Nightshade. They work in similar ways, but with different targets.

Glaze came first.

Glaze came first.

Glaze came first.

And how about Nightshade?

And how about Nightshade?

And how about Nightshade?

The underlying process of creating this AI poison is, as you might imagine, quite complicated. But for an artist who's using Nightshade, who wants to sprinkle a few invisible pixels of poison on their original work, it's pretty straightforward.