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TESTIMONY BY NEW DOE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OFFICE DIRECTOR: The House Energy and Commerce Committee is quizzing the new head of a recently-created artificial intelligence office within the Department of Energy – examining how the office will utilize the technology to approach issues like national security, permitting, and climate change.
The testimony comes a day after the Department of Energy announced it will be creating an office to oversee the agency’s uses of AI and other emerging technologies. Helena Fu, who was named the new director of the office, testified before the committee on Wednesday.
During a wide-ranging hearing exploring how AI intersects with different areas of the economy, Republican Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers expressed concern with the administration’s executive order that created the office, citing fears of “overregulation” that could stifle innovation. She used the European Union as an example, which agreed last week to sweeping regulations for the growing industry. The law, called the A.I. Act, was one of the first attempts in the world to set rules for the emerging sector, as concerns about job elimination, security risk, and misinformation surface with the boom of AI.
“I have concerns that some aspects of the executive order started down the path of the European Union, where they have over-regulated technological innovation out of existence,” Rodgers said during her opening remarks. “We cannot let overbearing regulations hinder American AI advancements, and in turn, limit U.S. global competitiveness.”
While Fu acknowledged that it’s important to grant the private sector room to lead the way in innovation, she said that the department needs to focus on three areas to further AI capability: leveraging scientific data to train AI models for DOE-specific missions, understanding how “black box” models work, and how to apply these models in classified spaces for national security predicaments.
Both Democratic and Republican members questioned Fu about other directions the department plans to take with AI, including how to optimize the electric grid. Fu pointed to three key areas the agency is focusing on: reaping the benefits of AI so operators can manage the growing complexity of the grid, how to beef up the grid against national security attacks, and addressing the energy “instability” AI can impose on the grid. If you’ll recall, data centers that power AI can use large amounts of energy – posing a risk to grid capacity.
“On all three fronts, we are working actively with industry and utility players, big and small,” Fu said.
Fu mentioned that AI can be used to solve the issue of permitting for energy projects – a longstanding problem that regulators and lawmakers have been trying to tackle, but to little avail. A number of projects have remained in the queue because they lack permit approvals.
The DOE official also highlighted how the technology can better U.S. nuclear capabilities – particularly with igniting and controlling nuclear fusion. For years, scientists have struggled to harness the power from the chemical reaction – but the Biden administration is ramping up efforts into figuring out how to unlock nuclear fusion, which has been seen as key to producing emissions-free energy.
“We’ve been able to use AI to quantitatively predict, and learn from new experiments, and to predict when ignition might actually happen,” Fu said. “The ability to do that actually saves tremendous amounts of time, and also the costs associated with actually doing testing.”
The hearing is still ongoing at the time of writing. Watch that here.
Some background: DOE launched the “Office of Critical Emerging Technology” on Tuesday, with the aim of leveraging investments to accelerate progress in areas of AI, biotechnology, quantum computing, and semiconductors. The office was created to focus the agency’s efforts toward solving science, energy, and security challenges.
In a statement, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the office will work in the “interest of American security and competitiveness.”
“Since their inception, DOE’s National Laboratories have been central to the nation’s scientific and technological advancement, and we are preparing to ensure that, as new technologies emerge, the United States leads the way in exploring those frontiers,” Granholm said.
Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writers Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep) and Nancy Vu (@NancyVu99). Email [email protected] or [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
ICYMI — COP28 DEAL: Nearly 200 countries at the COP28 summit agreed to transition away from fossil fuels.
What’s in the deal: The new agreement asks countries to set “ambitious, economywide” emissions reduction goals by 2025 for all greenhouse gasses that align with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.
“We have language on fossil fuels in our final agreement for the first time ever,” COP28 President Sultan al Jaber told delegates in the crowded auditorium following a second full night of negotiations.
The positive spin: The deal was touted a major victory for negotiators compared to the previous day’s draft.
“This document sends very strong messages to the world,” U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said. Its adoption was a “moment where multilateralism has actually come together and people have taken individual interests and attempted to define the common good,” he said.
Kerry told reporters that progress at the summit also helped reopen the dialogue between the U.S. and China, who agreed separately to update their long-term goals for combating climate change.
The negative spin: Leaders from small and undeveloped nations most vulnerable to climate change criticized the deal as merely incremental and insufficient. Read more from Breanne here.
…SPEAKING OF OIL: OPEC said today it remains “cautiously optimistic” about 2024 demand growth for oil, sticking to its growth forecast for the coming year and blaming “exaggerated concerns” of oversupply for pushing prices lower.
The update comes as prices for international benchmark Brent crude fell to a roughly six-month low of $72 per barrel this week. The sustained low prices have defied OPEC’s repeated supply cuts aimed at pushing prices higher—ideally between $80 and $100 per barrel.
In its latest monthly report, OPEC said that speculators had a major role in pushing down oil prices and are underestimating demand. The group left its 2024 demanding growth forecast unchanged from November, at 2.25 million bpd.
Duh: It’s worth noting, of course, that OPEC has a vested interest in predicting higher demand growth compared to bodies like the Paris-based International Energy Agency, and the two groups have clashed repeatedly on projections for oil demand, especially in 2024 and beyond. Read more on the latest forecast here.
While the low prices are bad for OPEC, they’re great for U.S. drivers, at least in the near term, pushing gasoline prices lower during a busy holiday travel season.
U.S. gas prices have dropped by a whopping 19% since September, according to AAA, with the average cost of a gallon at just $3.14
TESLA NEWS – NEARLY ALL MODELS ON THE ROAD IN U.S. RECALLED: Tesla issued a recall for nearly all its electric vehicles on the road because of the Autopilot failing in some circumstances. The recall, disclosed in a letter made public by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, affects Tesla models Y, S, 3, and X – more than 2 million vehicles – and will be remedied via a software update that will limit use of the autopilot feature.
The NHTSA, which performed an analysis of 956 crashes in which the Autopilot was supposed to be in use, said that there was an increased risk of crashes in situations in which Autosteer is engaged and the driver isn’t paying attention, or when the driver thinks the feature is engaged and it isn’t.
It’s a notable setback in light of CEO Elon Musk’s statements that Tesla’s advancements in autonomous driving set it apart.
More bad news for Tesla: The carmaker said today that it will lose the entire $7,500 tax credit for Model 3 RWD & Long Range vehicles delivered after Dec. 31. The stricter criteria for the subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act are set to kick in with the new year.
The Rundown
Washington Post Ping-pong, ice pops and the planet’s fate: Inside COP28’s final hours
Financial Times The unexpected revival of America’s trade unions
Bloomberg World’s biggest ESG fund class adds oil and cuts green exposure
