This screams FAITH (Filthy Assumptions Instead of THinking) from a distance, on multiple levels:

1. Assuming that the current machine learning development will lead to artificial general intelligence. Will it?
2. Assuming that said AGI would appear in time to reduce power consumption. Will it?
3. Assuming that lowering the future power consumption will be enough to address issues caused by the current power consumption. Will it?
4. Assuming that addressing issues from a distant future means that the whole process won't cause harm for people in a nearer future. Will it?

Furthermore, Gates in the quote is being disingenuous:

"Let's not go overboard on this," he said. "Datacenters are, in the most extreme case, a 6 percent addition [to the energy load] but probably only 2 to 2.5 percent. The question is, will AI accelerate a more than 6 percent reduction? And the answer is: certainly," Gates said.

The answer addresses something far, far more specific than the main issue.

If I may, here's my alternative solution for the problem, in the same style as Gates':

Kill everyone between the North Pole and the Equator.

What do you mean, it would kill 85% people in the world? Well, you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs, right? Nobody that I know personally lives there, so Not My Problem®. (Just keep Japan, I need my anime to watch.)

...I'm being clearly sarcastic to deliver a point here - it's trivially easy to underestimate issues affecting humankind, and problems associated with their solutions, if you are not directly affected by either. Gates is some billionaire bubbled around rich people; this sort of problem will affect the poor first, as the rich can simply throw enough money into their problems to make them go away.

Least insane techno-optimist

Okbuddyretard or wowthanksimcured?

And that's why he's so rich.

The guy who owns the company leading the charge on AI is telling you not to worry about the power that AI uses.

I mean it should go without saying that you should completely ignore this.

Said a guy banging a Russian ballet dancer while married.

Should we really listen to a guy like that?

Epstein hooked it up for the downvoters :)

Another attempt to approach king Midas' powers by turning matter into shit, because apparently if we can turn it into shit, then eventually we'll learn to turn it into gold.

It's amazingly stupid. Among other things because it's been described by Lem in either "Summa Technologiae" or "Megabit Bomb", I don't remember which. Possibly both.

But one doesn't have to read Lem for the concept of entropy.

It just feels so boring. People with power showing with all their herd that they don't deserve that power, because they don't understand simple concepts.