Sustainable Computing for HPC and AI

Concerns about global warming and unsustainable levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions loom large for organizations of all sizes. Manufacturers are under more pressure than ever to design energy-efficient products and move towards net zero emissions to meet corporate environmental, sustainability, and governance (ESG) goals. Virtually all organizations that operate large-scale data centers have similar concerns, from financial services firms to government agencies to pharmaceutical companies to online service providers. While high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) play key roles in designing and delivering more energy-efficient products, ironically, the widespread adoption of AI — with its enormous appetite for electricity — is driving dramatic increases in energy demand across all industries.

Fortunately, technologies pioneered in HPC can play a critical role in improving the efficiency of energy-intensive AI model training and inference (prediction). In this guide, we discuss the challenge of global warming, the promise of HPC, and the considerable challenges of curbing AI’s enormous appetite for energy. We also suggest some strategies and best practices that can help organizations increase efficiency and reduce emissions while simultaneously boosting productivity and profitability.