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Imagine you're buying a new laptop. You come across a model that can do some pretty nifty stuff, but uses many times more electricity than your current laptop. (Ten times? Thirty times? No salesman can give you the exact number, because it's a company secret.)

Oh yeah, and this laptop comes with a funnel on top; every time you ask it for a joke, or a fun image you just thought up, the PC needs a water refill (again, it won't tell you how much). What do you think, worth the upgrade? For those of us who care about an ever-warmer, ever-thirstier Earth, probably not.

Yet that laptop, or something like it, is the net result of our current AI gold rush. Wait, something like it? Yes, because vague estimates are all we have. The true cost in carbon dioxide emissions for every AI prompt — not to mention the groundwater used to cool down thousands of servers crunching those prompts — is still hidden. Researchers can paint a rough picture; Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and others could provide a more precise portrait any time they wanted.

SEE ALSO: A Google AI model is improving climate forecasting

But ever since ChatGPT launched in 2022, "there's been a general crackdown on information," says Sasha Luccioni, a 10-year veteran of AI energy usage research, a TED talk star, and currently climate lead at Hugging Face, a platform for open-source AI.

"Not a single company that offers AI tools, that I know of, provides energy usage and carbon footprint information," Luccioni says in tones of rising frustration. "We don't even know how big models like GPT are. Nothing is divulged, everything is a company secret."

In short: climate-conscious, AI-hungry companies like Google and Microsoft have become a little compartmentalized. They can tell you exactly how many kilograms of carbon your next plane flight is going to emit, but won't offer the same when it comes to your next AI-written term paper or AI-painted Pope in a puffy jacket.

Perhaps with good reason: if we knew the environmental cost of AI products, we'd start shaming each other for our flagrant usage of it.

AI makes us all dirtier

Since tech firms also still care about being seen as good environmental citizens, we do have a sense of the scale of the problem. In its 86-page 2024 sustainability report, Google revealed that its total greenhouse gas emissions shot up by 48 percent between 2019 and 2023, with the bulk of that rise coming since 2022.

Given that Google still aims to get to net zero emissions by 2030, that's not great news. Nor is Microsoft's 2024 sustainability report, which shows a 29.1 percent rise in emissions since 2020.

Both companies point the finger at third parties, specifically the ones building data centers for them. They also point out that these data centers do a lot more than just answer AI prompts, which is true and a big part of why the energy cost of AI is so nebulous.

But neither can the AI-proud companies fully deny what's driving this sudden burst of construction: data centers that are "designed and optimized to support AI workloads," in Microsoft's words.

"We have a long way to go to meet our 2030 target," the Google report admits. Given that data center energy demand is expected to grow 160 percent by 2030, that's an understatement. As a May 2024 Goldman Sachs report estimates: "the carbon dioxide emissions of data centers may more than double between 2022 and 2030."

Where should we point the finger for this rise? As Google's report puts it in this doozy of a passive-voice sentence: "Reducing emissions may be challenging due to increasing energy demands from the greater intensity of AI compute."

SEE ALSO: People are using AI to date you

To be fair to the owners of power-hungry AI models, their energy usage is probably still dwarfed by other power-hog data center technologies such as cryptocurrency, streaming apps, and online games.

But don't make that comparison to Luccioni. "That always pisses me off," she says, "because AI is not a vertical. It's a horizontal — a tool that gets used across many different verticals. Google Maps uses AI, and so do all the ads we see online, and so does precision agriculture, and so do military drones. How do you calculate what part AI plays?"

Or to put it another way: Google doesn't force you to use cryptocurrency when you do a Google search. But it has put AI search results front and center — and you can't opt out. Which means that even if you think you've never used an AI tool in your life, if you've Googled recently, you're part of the problem. (For the climate-concerned, Luccioni recommends switching to a non-AI search engine like Ecosia.)

If Google, Microsoft, and the other big generative AI players were to reveal all, how bad could it be? Good question. Guesses from experts range from pretty bad to climate disaster.

The International Energy Agency estimates, conservatively, that a single ChatGPT prompt uses nearly 3 watt-hours. Compare that to 0.3 watt-hours for a single Google search (before the company integrated AI results with Gemini, that is).

The power required to reply to hundreds of millions of ChatGPT queries each day could power 33,000 households in the U.S. alone, according to University of Washington researcher Saijad Moazeni. And that doesn't include energy consumed in the process of training every company's AI model in the first place, which is anyone's guess.

AI is incredibly thirsty

Another way to see the scale of the problem: tell-tale spikes in water usage. When OpenAI was in the final month of training its latest model, GPT-4, at a group of Microsoft data centers in West Des Moines Iowa, the company had to pump in 11.5 million gallons — or 6 percent of all the water in the whole district. West Des Moines told Microsoft not to add more data centers unless it could reduce its water usage, echoing a similar problem in Arizona and a 2021 water fight in Oregon over Google data centers.

There is good news, of course. Data center water is increasingly drawn from non-potable sources, and companies are figuring out how to use less of it in the first place. Some data centers are using special HVAC systems, which decrease water usage even as they add to the electricity bill.

But hey, how about the exponential growth in wind and solar power? Surely that can drive our AI revolution, right?

Not so fast, say researchers, who point out that it's impossible to tell whether your AI query is going to a data center in green energy-friendly Europe, coal-friendly India or oil-friendly Saudi Arabia. Even Europe isn't greening its grid fast enough to keep pace with Silicon Valley's AI obsession.

"Renewable energy is definitely growing," Sasha Luccioni says. "The problem is it's not growing fast enough to keep up with AI's growth."

Tech companies are trying to plug that gap with carbon credits, which as a recent Bloomberg investigation points out, isn't the same as taking emissions out of the atmosphere. Microsoft and Amazon rely on credits for more than 50 percent of its so-called renewable energy, the report said.

Meta is a little better, with just 18 percent of its allegedly green energy coming from carbon credits. (Luccioni also credits Meta with being a little better on the AI data disclosure front too, in part because the company currently has less skin in the AI game.)

Can AI help us be more green?

Even if AI-focused data centers were 100 percent powered by wind, solar, hydro and nuclear, that still means they're calling dibs on green power that belongs to all of us.

This isn't a theoretical debate; a conflict over Amazon dropping new data centers next to a 2.5 Gw nuclear power station in Pennsylvania, then fighting locals for the output, appears to be the first in a wave of similar legal battles now ramping up around other nuclear stations.

Are there ways in which using AI is worth such a power suck? Might AI-powered climate research actually help us model extreme weather better, maybe even help us design carbon capture solutions that could scale up fast enough to tackle global warming?

That's a possibility for sure, and one for a future story. But one thing's for sure: few of us, from Gen Z students handing in ChatGPT-written papers to boomers posting AI cat pictures on Facebook, are using AI to save our warming planet. Perhaps we'd be better off leaving this tool to the people who are.

A viral TikTok trend has rebranded bank fraud as an exploitable "Chase Bank glitch" offering unlimited money for free. Unfortunately, it seems some people couldn't smell the rot on this highly suspect scheme, seemingly prompting them to commit a crime and rack up a shocking amount of debt.

The Chase Bank "glitch" has gained widespread attention on TikTok over the past few days, though thankfully most creators are talking about how ill-advised it is rather than trying to take advantage of it. Nevertheless, several photos and videos circulating on social media show people boastfully showing off stacks of cash after apparently using this ostensible real-life money "glitch" — or panicking over bank balances now deep in the red after the error is rectified.

SEE ALSO: How to protect yourself from bank fraud

The Chase Bank money "glitch" is simple. Chase customers would write a bad cheque to themselves for an obscene amount of money, deposit it, then quickly withdraw the cash from an ATM before the bank clued into the fact that the funds didn't exist. 

This is similar to cheque kiting, a form of bank fraud that has been around for over a century. However, if there's anything we've learnt from living in a capitalist hellscape, it's that branding is everything. Simply calling bank fraud a "glitch" was apparently enough to prevent people from seeing the crime for what it was, tempting them to try it out for themselves.

Of course, because people are using their own bank accounts to do this "glitch," it should be ridiculously easy for Chase Bank to track them down.

"We are aware of this incident, and it has been addressed," Chase said in a statement shared with multiple publications. "Regardless of what you see online, depositing a fraudulent check and withdrawing the funds from your account is fraud, plain and simple."

Tweet may have been deleted

It's unclear exactly how the Chase Bank "glitch" trend began, or how many people actually tried it. It's entirely possible that people are creating fake screenshots or skits to take advantage of the viral moment, which seems more plausible than them believing they could scam the largest bank in the U.S. out of thousands and get away unscathed. We can only hope that the majority of people are just joking around, and that they didn't actually commit bank fraud based on a TikTok.

Mashable has reached out to Chase Bank for further comment.

With the cost of living soaring, many people are looking for ways to earn a bit of extra cash. As such, easy money hacks such as this Chase Bank "glitch" can seem very enticing. However, it's good to remember that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. 

America’s right flank remains the chief purveyor of misinformation, but this summer’s political tumult created ideal conditions for falsehoods to spread among progressives.

TL;DR: Live stream Badosa vs. Navarro in the 2024 US Open for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Every player in the US Open quarter finals will start to genuinely believe they can win the whole thing. It's only three more games, after all.

Emma Navarro triumphed over Coco Gauff in the last round, and now finds herself up against Paula Badosa. Can the American go all the way and win at Flushing Meadows?

If you want to watch Badosa vs. Navarro in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Badosa vs. Navarro in the 2024 US Open for free

Fans can live stream the 2024 US Open for free on these platforms:

• Australia — 9Now

• New Zealand — TVNZ+

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but anyone from around the world can access these sites with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock 9Now and TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 US Open by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia or New Zealand

4. Visit 9Now or TVNZ+

5. Watch Badosa vs. Navarro in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but top VPNs do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of Badosa vs. Navarro without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch every US Open match before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for the US Open?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the US Open for free, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia and New Zealand

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream Badosa vs. Navarro in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Live stream Zheng vs. Sabalenka in the 2024 US Open for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The US Open quarter finals were always going to match up some of the best players in the world, but it's still exciting to see top-seeded stars go head-to-head. One of these exciting matchups is Zheng vs. Sabalenka, with the latter looking to go one better than her defeat in last year's final.

If you want to watch Zheng vs. Sabalenka in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Zheng vs. Sabalenka in the 2024 US Open for free

Fans can live stream the 2024 US Open for free on these platforms:

• Australia — 9Now

• New Zealand — TVNZ+

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but anyone from around the world can access these sites with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock 9Now and TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 US Open by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia or New Zealand

4. Visit 9Now or TVNZ+

5. Watch Zheng vs. Sabalenka in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of Zheng vs. Sabalenka without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch every US Open match before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for streaming sport is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for the US Open?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the US Open for free, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia and New Zealand

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream Zheng vs. Sabalenka in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Live stream Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The US Open quarter finals are here, promising exciting matchups between some of the best players in the world. With the likes of Djokovic and Alcaraz already out of the tournament, a lot of players will see this year's US Open as there for the taking. Fritz and Zverev will both believe they can win their first Grand Slam.

If you want to watch Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free

Fans can live stream the 2024 US Open for free on these platforms:

• Australia — 9Now

• New Zealand — TVNZ+

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but anyone from around the world can access these sites with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock 9Now and TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 US Open by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia or New Zealand

4. Visit 9Now or TVNZ+

5. Watch Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of Fritz vs. Zverev without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch every US Open match before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the US Open?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the US Open for free, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia and New Zealand

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream Fritz vs. Zverev in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Live stream Dimitrov vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free on 9Now or TVNZ+. Access these free streaming platforms from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The US Open has been far from predictable. A number of big names are out of the tournament, opening the door to the likes of Dimitrov and Tiafoe. These exciting players go head-to-head in the US Open quarter finals, both aiming to win their first Grand Slam title.

If you want to watch Dimitrov vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

How to watch Dimitrov vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free

Fans can live stream the 2024 US Open for free on these platforms:

• Australia — 9Now

• New Zealand — TVNZ+

These streaming services are geo-blocked, but anyone from around the world can access these sites with a VPN. These handy tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to secure servers in other countries, meaning you can unblock 9Now and TVNZ+ from anywhere in the world.

Access free live streams of the 2024 US Open by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Australia or New Zealand

4. Visit 9Now or TVNZ+

5. Watch Dimitrov vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Year Subscription + 3 Months Free) $99.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but leading VPNs do tend to offer deals such as free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access free live streams of Dimitrov vs. Tiafoe without actually spending anything. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it gives you enough time to watch every US Open match before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for the US Open?

ExpressVPN is the best service for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream the US Open for free, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Australia and New Zealand

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is always secure

• Fast connection speeds

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee.

Live stream Dimitrov vs. Tiafoe in the 2024 US Open for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

TL;DR: Prepare for your next job with beginner to advanced courses on Excel, Word, Access, Outlook, and PowerPoint with the Ultimate Microsoft Office 2021/365 Training Bundle, available now for just £30.38 (reg. £341.08). 

Opens in a new window Credit: StreamSkill The Ultimate Microsoft Office 2021/365 Training Bundle £30.38 at the Mashable Shop
£341.08 Save £310.70 Get Deal

Don't let that "proficient in Microsoft Office" on your resume be a lie. Knowing how to format a spreadsheet or compose a document in Word is just the beginning. The more advanced functions take a little more effort to learn, but you might be able to save time on tasks like data organisation, formatting, and more when you enroll in the Ultimate Microsoft Office 2021/365 Training Bundle. This pack of seven courses goes from beginner to intermediate and advanced lessons for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access, and it's on sale for just £30.38 (down from £341.08). 

Excel beginners welcome

If you don't know how to construct functional lookup formulas in Excel or use Excel tables to structure data in a way that's easy to update, have a seat. That's not even the advanced Excel course. Beginners can start with lessons on Excel keyboard shortcuts, basic formulas, and simple functions. Once you're ready for the intermediate course, that's where you can find tips to help you design better spreadsheets. 

The advanced Excel course is your chance to learn how to use new dynamic array functions, create flexible lookup formulas, and practice using statistical functions. In essence, it's where you learn the real data analysis tools, and it could save you a ton of time in any role that involves large data sets. 

Excel isn't the only star of the show. Word may feel like the simplest software in the set, but there are a ton of advanced features you might not know about yet. The Word 2021 course shows you how to access document templates, customize your work interface, and polish your work to a professional shine. 

Don't know if a video course is the right fit for you? Preview some of the videos to get an idea of what's in store. Each course is video-led and packed with practice exercises to help you retain what you learn. You'll even get a certificate of completion when you finish the course. These certificates are different from an official certification, but they could still be useful if you want to show an employer you mean business.

Become an Office expert

Go beyond the basics and use Microsoft apps like a true professional. 

Get the Ultimate Microsoft Office 2021/365 Training Bundle on sale for £30.38. 

StackSocial prices subject to change.