Month: July 2023
Elon Musk Predicts Electricity Shortage in Two Years
“The man behind the race to replace gasoline-fueled cars with electric ones is worried about having enough juice,” writes the Wall Street Journal:
In recent days he has reiterated those concerns, predicting U.S. consumption of electricity, driven in part by battery-powered vehicles, will triple by around 2045. That followed his saying earlier this month that he anticipates an electricity shortage in two years that could stunt the energy-hungry development of artificial intelligence. âoeYou really need to bring the time scale of projects in sooner and have a high sense of urgency,â Musk told energy executives Tuesday at a conference held by PG&E, one of the nationâ(TM)s largest utilities. âoeMy biggest concern is that thereâ(TM)s insufficient urgency….â
The U.S. energy industry in recent years already has struggled at times to keep up with demand, resorting to threats of rolling blackouts amid heat waves and other demand spikes. Those stresses have rattled an industry undergoing an upheaval as old, polluting plants are being replaced by renewable energy. Utilities are spending big to retool their systems to be greener and make them more resilient. Deloitte estimates the largest U.S. electric companies together will spend as much as $1.8 trillion by 2030 on those efforts. Adding to the challenge is an industry historically accustomed to moving slowly, partly because of regulators aiming to protect consumers from price increases…
PG&E expects electricity demand will rise 70% in the next 20 years, which, the California company notes, would be unprecedented. Similarly, McKinsey expects U.S. demand will double by 2050. âoeThis is an opportunity of the century for the power sector, and they could blow it if they donâ(TM)t get it right,â Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas, Austin, said of the industry. âoeThis demand growth is partly from EVs, but also heat pumps, data centers, AI, home devicesâ¦you name it….â
One of Muskâ(TM)s solutions is to better optimize the grid by running power plants around-the-clock and storing the energy not used during peak hours in battery packs for use later. âoeIâ(TM)m not sure it might be as much as a 2x gainâ¦but itâ(TM)s at least 50% to 100% increase in total energy output,â Musk said recently.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
“The man behind the race to replace gasoline-fueled cars with electric ones is worried about having enough juice,” writes the Wall Street Journal:
In recent days he has reiterated those concerns, predicting U.S. consumption of electricity, driven in part by battery-powered vehicles, will triple by around 2045. That followed his saying earlier this month that he anticipates an electricity shortage in two years that could stunt the energy-hungry development of artificial intelligence. âoeYou really need to bring the time scale of projects in sooner and have a high sense of urgency,â Musk told energy executives Tuesday at a conference held by PG&E, one of the nationâ(TM)s largest utilities. âoeMy biggest concern is that thereâ(TM)s insufficient urgency….â
The U.S. energy industry in recent years already has struggled at times to keep up with demand, resorting to threats of rolling blackouts amid heat waves and other demand spikes. Those stresses have rattled an industry undergoing an upheaval as old, polluting plants are being replaced by renewable energy. Utilities are spending big to retool their systems to be greener and make them more resilient. Deloitte estimates the largest U.S. electric companies together will spend as much as $1.8 trillion by 2030 on those efforts. Adding to the challenge is an industry historically accustomed to moving slowly, partly because of regulators aiming to protect consumers from price increases…
PG&E expects electricity demand will rise 70% in the next 20 years, which, the California company notes, would be unprecedented. Similarly, McKinsey expects U.S. demand will double by 2050. âoeThis is an opportunity of the century for the power sector, and they could blow it if they donâ(TM)t get it right,â Michael Webber, an energy resources professor at the University of Texas, Austin, said of the industry. âoeThis demand growth is partly from EVs, but also heat pumps, data centers, AI, home devicesâ¦you name it….â
One of Muskâ(TM)s solutions is to better optimize the grid by running power plants around-the-clock and storing the energy not used during peak hours in battery packs for use later. âoeIâ(TM)m not sure it might be as much as a 2x gainâ¦but itâ(TM)s at least 50% to 100% increase in total energy output,â Musk said recently.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Walmart pays $1.4 billion to buy Tiger Global’s remaining Flipkart stake
Walmart paid $1.4 billion to buy out Tiger Global’s remaining holding of Flipkart shares as the retail giant further expands its stake in the Indian e-commerce startup. The transaction took place in recent days and Tiger Global, which has cashed most of its Flipkart shares earlier, overall made a return of $3.5 billion on an
Walmart paid $1.4 billion to buy out Tiger Global’s remaining holding of Flipkart shares as the retail giant further expands its stake in the Indian e-commerce startup.
The transaction took place in recent days and Tiger Global, which has cashed most of its Flipkart shares earlier, overall made a return of $3.5 billion on an investment of $1.2 billion, the New York-headquartered hedge fund told investors, according to a person familiar with the matter. Wall Street Journal first reported on the deal.
Flipkart is the only Indian startup in which Tiger Global had invested more than $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The U.S. investment giant has poured over $6 billion on Indian startups altogether.
The secondary Flipkart shares sale valued the Bengaluru-headquartered at $35 billion. Flipkart was valued at $37.6 billion in a funding round in 2021, but has since internally cut its worth by about $5 billion following the split of payments startup PhonePe.
Walmart, which paid $16 billion for a 77% stake in Flipkart in 2018, held 72% share in the firm as of last year, according to an analysis by market intelligence firm Tracxn. Tiger Global, prior to the recent transaction, held a 4% stake in Flipkart.
An alternative perspective on Walmart’s over $20 billion investment in Flipkart could be that the American giant has bought shares in a company that competes with the local division of Amazon, which was able to establish a similar business in-house for less than $7 billion.
The funding faucet for Flipkart probably won’t be turned off in the near future.
Flipkart has largely depleted the capital it raised in 2021 and now faces the need for another round of funding. Flipkart has gauged market interest in recent months, but no deal was struck due to a lower valuation. As such, it seems likely that it will turn back to Walmart to secure the majority of the financing needed for the next round.
The Gaps Get Smaller as the World Cup Gets Larger
Expanding the Women’s World Cup was a good idea. Just not for the reasons FIFA thinks.
Expanding the Women’s World Cup was a good idea. Just not for the reasons FIFA thinks.
Apple Acknowledges Screen Time Bug, Promises Further Improvements
Apple has acknowledged a bug with its parental controls feature Screen Time on the iPhone and iPad, and promises it will take additional steps to remedy the situation, according to a report this weekend from The Wall Street Journal.
Screen Time provides parents with settings to remotely manage a child’s device, allowing them to restrict device usage to certain times, set time limits for apps, and block inappropriate content. However, some parents have complained that Screen Time settings sometimes reset or fail to sync across all devices within a Family Sharing group.
“We are aware that some users may be experiencing an issue where Screen Time settings are unexpectedly reset,” an Apple spokesperson said, in a statement shared with The Wall Street Journal. “We take these reports very seriously and we have been, and will continue, making updates to improve the situation.”
Apple already fixed an issue with Screen Time settings failing to stick with iOS 16.5, released in May, but the report claims that some parents have continued to experience the issue on devices updated to iOS 16.6 and the iOS 17 public beta. It’s unclear when Apple plans to roll out additional improvements to Screen Time.
Screen Time launched in 2018 as part of iOS 12, providing parents with a built-in option for the type of controls that previously required third-party apps.Tag: Screen TimeThis article, “Apple Acknowledges Screen Time Bug, Promises Further Improvements” first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums
Apple has acknowledged a bug with its parental controls feature Screen Time on the iPhone and iPad, and promises it will take additional steps to remedy the situation, according to a report this weekend from The Wall Street Journal.
Screen Time provides parents with settings to remotely manage a child’s device, allowing them to restrict device usage to certain times, set time limits for apps, and block inappropriate content. However, some parents have complained that Screen Time settings sometimes reset or fail to sync across all devices within a Family Sharing group.
“We are aware that some users may be experiencing an issue where Screen Time settings are unexpectedly reset,” an Apple spokesperson said, in a statement shared with The Wall Street Journal. “We take these reports very seriously and we have been, and will continue, making updates to improve the situation.”
Apple already fixed an issue with Screen Time settings failing to stick with iOS 16.5, released in May, but the report claims that some parents have continued to experience the issue on devices updated to iOS 16.6 and the iOS 17 public beta. It’s unclear when Apple plans to roll out additional improvements to Screen Time.
Screen Time launched in 2018 as part of iOS 12, providing parents with a built-in option for the type of controls that previously required third-party apps.
This article, “Apple Acknowledges Screen Time Bug, Promises Further Improvements” first appeared on MacRumors.com
Discuss this article in our forums