The development of AI systems requires vast amounts of computing power, driving unprecedented demand for specialised processors worldwide.
This demand has created a market dominated by Nvidia, whose AI chips power most of the world's LLMs and Gen AI applications.
Yet the resulting dependency on a single supplier has prompted technology companies to seek alternatives, either through partnerships or by developing their own processors.
As the cost of training and running AI models also continues to rise, companies developing LLMs require extensive computing infrastructure, with some projects consuming thousands of processors and the hardware requirements for training models like GPT-4 being estimated to cost hundreds of millions of pounds.
- OpenAI to complete first custom chip design in 2025
- OpenAI's chip aims to reduce dependency on Nvidia
- TSMC to use 3-nanometer manufacturing process
- OpenAI's chip team is led by Richard Ho, formerly from Google
Against this backdrop, OpenAI has reportedly initiated development of its own chips to reduce dependence on dominant supplier Nvidia.
According to Reuters, OpenAI will finalise the design of its first custom chip in the coming months, with plans to manufacture it at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest contract chip manufacturer.
Leading European Companies Launch Major AI Initiative
Rapid technological advances and geopolitical shifts have left Europe at a critical juncture. Add in economic pressures, declining productivity and an ageing population and you have a challenging socio-economic landscape demanding action.
In this kind of environment AI can make a significant impact, offering opportunities to boost economic progress with new models and approaches and bring greater strategic autonomy. But measurable results require the kind of collaboration that’s spearheading a new effort, the EU AI Champions Initiative.
The initiative sees more than 60 European organisations responsible for US$3+ trillion market cap and over 3.7 million jobs united to demonstrate strong leadership in AI, ‘rewrite the AI playbook’ and make Europe a global leader in its research, development and application. It is backed by a €150bn investment from over 20 international investors.
The initiative was formally introduced at the AI Action Summit in Paris, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, with discussions involving European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and heads of state from 17 European nations.
Discussing the initiative at the summit, President von der Leyen said: “The time has come for us to formulate a vision of where we want AI to take us, as society and as humanity. And then we need to act and accelerate Europe in getting there.
“I welcome the European AI Champions Initiative,” she added. “Today, I can announce with our InvestAI initiative that we can top up by €50bn. Thereby we aim to mobilise a total of €200bn for AI investments in Europe. We will have a focus on industrial and mission-critical applications. It will be the largest public-private partnership in the world for the development of trustworthy AI.”
AI Energy Score: Salesforce's Innovative AI Impact Tracker
Whatever the discussion around AI and its proliferation across industries, sectors and enterprises worldwide, one question always sticks: what is its environmental impact?
One of the main concerns is the heavy reliance of AI on data centres, which consume vast amounts of electricity and water and, on paper at least, make AI operations look pretty unsustainable. To make any kind of reasoned judgement and to forecast future impact accurately, the industry needs a more standardised approach and set of tools capable of understanding AI and its effect on the environment.
Cue Salesforce and its new AI Energy Score, a newly launched tool that provides a method to measure and juxtapose the energy efficiency of various AI models.
Officially launched at the AI Action Summit on 10 February 2025 – a global event for leaders from over 100 countries – the AI Energy Score has been endorsed by the French Government and the Paris Peace Forum and represents a tangible step forwards for developing more sustainable AI models.
Boris Gamazaychikov, Head of Sustainability AI at Salesforce, said of the development: "We are at a critical moment with the rapid acceleration of both the climate crisis and AI innovation. These two trends are interlinked, as we can see exemplified by new gas development slated to support AI data centres.
Ex Google CEO Warns of Terrorist ‘Extreme Risk’ Posed by AI
The former CEO and Chairman of Google has warned about the “extreme risk” we could face from terrorists or rogue states using AI. Schmidt, who held senior positions at Google from 2001 to 2017, told the BBC: “The fears I have are not ones that most people talk about AI – I talk about extreme risk.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Today programme, Schmidt warned that terrorist organisations could adopt or misuse AI. He said: “This technology is fast enough for them to adopt so that they could misuse it and do real harm.”
Schmidt expressed concerns that, if in the wrong hands, AI technology could even be used to develop biological weapons, explaining: “I’m always worried about the ‘Osama Bin Laden’ scenario, where you have some truly evil person who takes over some aspect of our modern life and uses it to harm innocent people.”
How Peugeot & Capgemini Use AI to Enhance Racing Performance
There’s a challenge facing motorsport: how to balance speed, spectacle and the ultimate performance with environmental stewardship? The answer lies in innovation. Specifically, harnessing the latest technologies and tools that can enhance vehicle performance and usher in more sustainable racing and operations.
Motorsport events like endurance races, where cars compete for up to 24 hours, embody this challenge more than most. In endurance racing in particular, the environmental impact extends beyond the limits of the track to include mission-critical areas like logistics, manufacturing, and team operations.
To tackle this multi-faceted issue, Peugeot’s motorsport division has renewed its partnership with Capgemini to concentrate efforts on developing its 9X8 Hypercar, which races in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The collaboration will focus on using AI to boost vehicle performance while also cutting down Peugeot Sport’s carbon emissions.
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