New use of Alpha Dog technology: helping Google reduce electricity bills

Google's DeepMind co-founder Demis Hassabis (Demis Hassabis) recently stated at the Artificial Intelligence Conference in New York that Google is using technology from DeepMind to optimize the energy consumption of data centers, thereby saving a lot of energy costs.

　　 In recent months, Google is using DeepMind's artificial intelligence system to control certain parts of the data center to optimize the energy consumption of servers and cooling equipment. Previously, DeepMind's technology was used to teach computers to play Atari games.

　　Hassabis said that this technology has reduced the energy consumption of Google’s data center by several percentage points. "From a cost point of view, this has brought huge savings and is also conducive to environmental protection."

　　 Google said that such optimization has brought a 15% increase in energy efficiency. The energy efficiency index compares the power consumption of computers with the power consumption of infrastructure such as refrigeration systems.

　　 Google said that the electricity consumption in 2014 was 4,402,836 MWh, which is equivalent to the average annual electricity consumption of 366,903 U.S. households. A large part of these power consumption comes from the data center, and the data center is the foundation of Google's network services and mobile applications.

　　 Reducing power consumption by a few percentage points will be a huge financial help for Google. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, electricity prices in the United States are usually US$25 to US$40 per MWh. Therefore, if data center energy consumption is reduced by 10%, Google can save hundreds of millions of dollars in a few years. Google acquired DeepMind for 400 million pounds in 2014, which was equivalent to more than 600 million U.S. dollars at the time.

　　 Google has also applied machine learning technology in data centers before. In 2014, Google stated that it was using a neural network system to predict changes in energy consumption over time in order to arrange equipment more efficiently.

　　DeepMind's work goes further on this basis. The company's software can adjust the way the equipment in the data center operates and improve energy efficiency. Hassabis said: "This controls about 120 variables in the data center, including fans, cooling systems, windows and other equipment."

　　 He also said that this is just the beginning of the project. Currently, DeepMind knows that this method is effective, and at the same time it is beginning to understand what information its artificial intelligence system lacks. Therefore, DeepMind may ask Google to deploy new sensors in the data center to help the software obtain more information.