Jensen Huang talks about AI and climate change like a supervillain

The Verge's Justine Calma criticizes NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's comments from The Ezra Klein Show, where Huang suggested AI can fight climate change but only after inflicting "an enormous amount of pain and suffering" first — comparing it to surgery. Calma draws a parallel to Marvel supervillain Thanos and highlights Huang's extreme privilege as a billionaire unlikely to bear the costs of pollution from NVIDIA's energy-hungry operations. The article outlines consequences of delaying renewable energy transitions: potential loss of 99% of coral reefs, 770 million people at acute risk from sea level rise, and more than doubled wildfire growth rates in the western US. Calma draws parallels between Hawaii's history of resource exploitation and the AI industry's impact on Maui, noting Huang's $7.5 million Maui home survived the 2023 wildfires. Huang also criticized climate action for stalling energy infrastructure development. A UC Riverside, Caltech, and Rochester Institute of Technology study projects AI-related air pollution could cause up to 1,300 premature deaths and over $20 billion in public health costs by 2028. The article concludes that a more polluting AI buildout is not inevitable — it depends on government policy choices and industry leaders' attitudes toward others' suffering.

(Source：The Verge)