Artificial intelligence enhances energy systems by making them smarter and more efficient, while blockchain technology introduces fairness and transparency. As a result, the AI-blockchain convergence is playing a pivotal role in democratizing energy usage and accelerating the global transition toward sustainable, decentralized power systems. 

Blockchain enables peer-to-peer energy trading, allowing consumers to buy and sell energy directly, while AI helps users better understand and optimize their energy consumption. These cutting-edge technologies have the potential to drive innovation, competitiveness and sustainability across the energy sector, according to Bill Tai (pictured), co-founder and chairman of ACTAI Global.

ACTAI Global’s Bill Tai talks to theCUBE about how the AI-blockchain convergence is changing stakes in the energy sector.

“Blockchain and AI together, and crypto, as the transaction layer,” Tai said. “I have funded a company called Powerledger … a decentralized, peer-to-peer energy trading system. You could have a peer-to-peer billing system that recognizes who’s the source and who’s the drain, and they can sell to me contractually with blockchain as the backbone, crypto as the payment mechanism, and then AI as a layer inside. If you had an energy LLM inside every electricity company, you could have automatically load balancing systems.”

Tai spoke with theCUBE’s John Furrier at the Cerebras Supernova event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how the AI-blockchain convergence is changing the energy sector. (* Disclosure below.)

The impact of AI-blockchain convergence in the energy field

As a nonprofit, ACTAI Global addresses energy challenges by promoting innovation, entrepreneurship and community engagement in clean energy and sustainability. As a result, the AI-blockchain convergence supports this mission by enhancing efficiency, transparency and sustainability within energy systems, according to Tai. 

“ACTAI Global — the acronym stands for athletes, conservationists, technologists, artists and innovators,” he said. “We hold a series of events around the world with people from all of those disciplines. I’ve been funding companies … but I moved up the stack from chips to communications equipment, started a data center company in the ’90s for the internet build-out. Here we are in this gigantic confluence of AI, blockchain and a coming energy shortage.”

Hut 8 Corp. is undergoing a significant transformation from a pure-play bitcoin mining company into a vertically integrated energy infrastructure and digital compute platform. This strategic pivot aims to tackle energy challenges, Tai pointed out. 

“Eric Schmidt recently testified in front of Congress … his estimate is that data centers today run 3% of America’s energy,” Tai said. “By 2027, they will be 97% of America’s energy, and to accomplish that, we need 27 gigawatts. One gigawatt is the equivalent of a nuclear power plant. In his off-the-charts estimates, we need 27 nuclear power plants in two years and in the following three years, we need 63 more. At Hut 8 Mining, we started as a division of Bitfury. We’re now basically transitioning Hut 8 to become an energy infrastructure company.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Cerebras Supernova event: 

Photo: SiliconANGLE