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GPT 6.1 Sol: Near-Astra intelligence for a fifth of the price

1066 points · 953 comments · crorella

  1. IshKebab · · focus · HN ↗
    I wish they'd list the environmental cost. My employer has an unlimited AI budget so I don't care about using Astra if it's just more profit for OpenAI. I care more if it actually uses 5x more energy.
    1. rs_rs_rs_rs_rs · · focus · HN ↗
      I don't understand the point of this, why just now when it comes to llms. Why wasn't anyone enraged with the environmental costs of kids playing video games. I would not be surprised the environmental cost of that is an order of magnitude bigger than what llms have.

      Edit: for context, just Steam alone has ~200million monthly active users.

      1. lbrito · · focus · HN ↗
        If you recall history past the last 5 minutes, you will remember that people have indeed been enraged with the environmental costs of things for a long time. Its just that AI seems to have induced a mass amnesia, and people tend to forget about what happened pre 2024.
        1. rs_rs_rs_rs_rs · · focus · HN ↗
          > you will remember that people have indeed been enraged with the environmental costs of things for a long time

          Yeah? Show me the big movements against computer gaming.

          1. lbrito · · focus · HN ↗
            There are movements against consumerism and the environmental impacts of industry in general. Greenpeace is over half a century old.

            The differences with AI are: 1) we are starting off (mid 2020s) from a baseline point of already being in a hopelessly shitty situation, past the 1.5C warming target; and 2) Electronics, chips, data centers etc were already a thing for a long time, but industry took _decades_ to ramp up production to pre-AI levels, and these things are used everywhere for a huge number of things. Now we're consuming electronics/data centers/water/power at an unheard-of rate, and for a single purpose (AI) with questionable benefits, besides the private interests of a handful of people.

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