Grok and other large language models developed by xAI are also subject to boycott discussions, mainly due to environmental concerns. Training and operating advanced AI models consumes enormous amounts of electricity and water, and requires large data centers that generate substantial carbon emissions. Some researchers estimate that training a single cutting-edge model can emit as much carbon as several cars do over their entire lifetimes. For this reason, some people avoid using Grok or refuse to financially support xAI, believing that doing so reduces demand for energy-intensive AI systems that contribute to climate damage.
I am being pedantic here but this is mostly misleading. @Andy Masley has done great work on this already. Please check: https://andymasley.substack.com/p/ai-and-the-environment
I don’t engage on the forum very much, although I’ve been reading the posts for more than a year and resonate pretty strongly with the core philosophy of EA. I wasn’t around for the FTX collapse, but how do you all deal with times when half of Twitter, including the president, is punching down on us?