Sam Altman suggests humanity create Dyson sphere to power AI
3 points by itbcharles 10 hours ago | 14 comments
- toomuchtodo 9 hours agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum
> He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, although he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession ... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me.” According to Barnum's critics, his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers". The adage "there's a sucker born every minute" has frequently been attributed to him, although no evidence exists that he had coined the phrase.
- andsoitis 10 hours agoBuilding a Dyson sphere around our sun would require more energy and material than we have access to or are capable of harnessing. So while a nice idea, it is a dead-end in practical terms.[-]
- DemocracyFTW2 7 hours agoTo solve that problem, we just have to build a Dyson sphere to harness the sun so we do have enough energy. The sun makes energy from mass so we have to reverse that process with an energy-to-mass factory. I don't see why that shouldn't work, it's just physics.
- dekhn 8 hours agoit's just "let's build a space elevator" part 2.[-]
- DemocracyFTW2 7 hours agoRecommended viewing: can we space elevator? should we space elevator? by Angela Collier (disclaimer: law of headlines applies)[-]
- southwindcg 5 hours agoShe has a great video about this post's very topic as well.
Altman doesn't merely suggest building a Dyson sphere, which is already laughably beyond our capability, but a Dyson sphere around the solar system. It is so, so stupid. He might as well have suggested using wizard magic to power our data centers.
[-]- DemocracyFTW2 55 minutes ago> She has a great video about this post's very topic as well
Yeah that's correct, but I got triggered by "space elevator".
- cindyllm 9 hours ago[dead]
- Fade_Dance 10 hours agoA big part of his job is being a stock promoter. He is raising funds at a 500 billion dollar valuation, so it clearly works. Promise the moon (or Dyson sphere) is a proven way to generate hype and stay in the limelight.
It's not that crazy from a futurism perspective. If we become an interplanetary civilization, we will probably have things like this run our compute. I just wouldn't spend money investing in that future today...
- lordkrandel 7 hours agoDo you still listen to what CEOs say? What are they there for if not to inflate giant economic bubbles
- jacquesm 8 hours agoIs that before or after he will implement UBI?[-]
- DemocracyFTW2 7 hours agoThe plan is first to get rid of all those who are holding a favorable view of UBI, then extract the organs from those remaining.
- AnimalMuppet 7 hours agoI suggest that humanity not listen to Sam Altman.
- al2o3cr 9 hours agoAt this rate, by mid-2026 he's going to be promising "Universe 2: Electric Boogaloo" - a plan to create an entire second universe just to put data centers into - just to juice the market for a little while longer[-]
- baobun 4 hours ago> If true, it would have huge implications for not only the expansion of OpenAI and its target to hit AGI within the next few years but could disrupt energy markets and entire industries, according to analysts.
> Experts say that there is no scientific basis for Electric Boogaloo, with some going as far as calling it "a fantasy".