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- Courtesy Costs OpenAI Millions
Courtesy Costs OpenAI Millions
& Fossil Fuels Still Power The World
YouTube's AI Dubbing: Breaking Language Barriers
YouTube's AI-powered automatic dubbing feature is transforming how creators reach global audiences. The technology automatically translates videos into eight languages, helping creators expand their reach without additional effort.
More than 40% of watch time for those videos comes from people watching in dubbed languages, according to the company. It’s running a smaller pilot program focused on cloning voices for dubbing and is experimenting with lip reanimation techniques.
Available to hundreds of thousands of YouTube Partner Program channels, this feature has already boosted viewership for creators like Egyptian influencer Farah Medhat. By enabling cross-cultural content discovery, YouTube's AI dubbing increases earning potential and improves algorithm visibility.
While the technology still faces challenges with voice quality and accuracy, YouTube plans to make translated audio sound more like creators' original voices by late 2025. This innovation represents a significant step in YouTube's evolution as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.
The Multi-Million Dollar "Please" to ChatGPT
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that users saying "please" and "thank you" to ChatGPT costs the company "tens of millions of dollars" in extra computing resources. These polite phrases increase token usage and prompt AI to generate longer, more detailed responses.
With over a billion daily queries, each consuming about 2.9 watt-hours of electricity, these courtesies add up quickly. For developers using OpenAI's API, costs range from $0.15 to $150 per million tokens, making politeness a significant expense.
Despite the cost, 67% of Americans remain courteous to AI assistants, with 82% doing so because "it's the right thing to do." Altman considers this "money well spent," as it contributes to more natural human-AI interactions.
Fossil Fuels Still Power Most of the World
Credits: Visual Cap
Global energy demand grew rapidly in 2024, with electricity use surging due to increased cooling needs, industrial activity, and expanding data centers. Despite renewable growth, fossil fuels still dominate global power generation at nearly 60%, with coal alone contributing 35%.
Regional differences are stark: India (73.4%) and China (58.4%) rely heavily on coal, while the EU leads in renewables at 48.7%. The United States depends primarily on natural gas (42.6%), though Trump's pro-coal policies may boost coal production.
The energy landscape continues evolving, with renewables now providing about one-third of global electricity. However, emerging economies remain coal-dependent while advanced economies increasingly adopt cleaner alternatives.