You ask that as if our beloved leaders' intention were to create a better world.

From what I know off the bat: there are two types of "AI" (being "Large Language Models"): the "frontier" models, which are trained over human-made stuff: work, arts, behavior, etc., and the "distilled" models, which uses other AI's to train them, which is often a much cheaper thing to do.
It's something like: frontier models imitate humans, distilled models imitate these imitators.
What's generated by a training of a LLM are these datasets called "weights". Like code, a company can keep it closed or just open them, so anyone can run them on a capable machine. Note that's two separate things, code and weights.
Lots of Chinese AI companies "distill" frontier AIs from US companies and sell the services for much cheaper. Some off them also open the weights (but not always the code of the LLMs). US companies are calling it unfair.
TFA then is about if US companies should do the same.
Hope that helps.

At least they're using units that we (the world) can recognize, and not something like tera-bald-eagles-power or something based on body parts of a random dude.

There are no downsides!

It all depends on the energy source.
If it's clean energy (or at least significantly cleaner than burning aviation fuel), no problem if more energy will be used, less pollution will happen.
Even if the goal is not less emissions but prettier bottom line, I'm still all for it.

You forgot to mention that over the top of the already steaming POS games they'll add a nice cover of AI slop.
And yet another round of mass layoffs.

IRL cartels have means of "discourage" those who cheats of repeating the deed.

More like mad cow disease.

Shaking seats, loud sirens, maybe even a little water spray?

Yes, it probably can be done without AI/LLM, but it'd take a long time and resources to develop the solution.
The thing with AI is it's easy, fast and accessible to use, often you don't need to know how to code, often it's cheaper.
Just ask it in natural language and it does it, of course with comes with varying levels of quality, but sometimes it's acceptable.
It can be more expensive to run it (maybe it needs a high-spec smartphone), but for this specific application, if the results comes in a minute it's totally fine, no need to be instantaneous and run in a arduino.

Glad to help.
I just discovered it myself last week.

Do yourself a favor and get over it.
Times they are a changin' - apps, applications and programs are synonyms nowadays. Those things that runs on iStuff are nothing but programs, a.k.a. apps.
Say "programs" or even "applications", and newer (and older!) generations will scratch their heads; say apps and they'll get it.

Yes, gaming is what is mostly holding me on Windows (10 as long as I have security updates, 11 is malware).
People saying it's fine... well it improved a lot, but it's not great. Specially with games with anticheat and it really fails big time if you have a NVidia GPU (my case).
There are recent news that Steam itself is taking action and "working with NVidia in order to improve compatibility", whatever that means... let's hope for the best, but I'll not hold my breath.

Try Gradia and tell us what you think.

Gradia.