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Energy

AI news about the power AI uses and where it comes from.

4 stories in the last 24 hours

Today

2 stories
  1. Must read 404 Media

    American Voters Overwhelmingly Reject AI Data Centers

    Widespread voter opposition, municipal bans, and power restrictions directly threaten the physical infrastructure and energy access needed to scale AI compute in the United States.

    US voters in the 2026 midterm elections voted against AI data centers in at least 38 of more than 40 ballot measures across 13 states, passing outright bans in six cities and power limits in 12. Pro-data center politicians also lost offices nationwide, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who was defeated by Democratic challenger Gina Hinojosa after his support for AI data centers became a central campaign issue.

    4 sources
  2. Worth knowing MIT Technology Review

    Texas was the new epicenter of the AI data center buildout. That might be kaput.

    Political backlash and potential permitting moratoriums in Texas, the fastest-growing US data center market, threaten to stall massive multi-gigawatt AI training facilities being built for major tech companies like Anthropic.

    Following midterm elections in which Democrats won the Texas governorship, a US Senate seat, and control of the state House after campaigning against data centers, the state's massive AI infrastructure buildout faces potential delays and moratoriums. Even before the election, outgoing Governor Greg Abbott had directed regulators to halt data center permits amid growing bipartisan voter opposition over rising electricity costs.

    1 source

Yesterday

2 stories
  1. Must read SemiAnalysis

    Elon Is Doing It Again: SpaceX Will Be The World’s Biggest AI Cloud

    This unprecedented pace of AI infrastructure and behind-the-meter power deployment positions Elon Musk's companies to potentially become the largest AI compute provider in the world within a few years.

    SemiAnalysis reports that SpaceX is rapidly constructing massive AI datacenter capacity across multiple locations, including expansions at Colossus 2 and new sites at Starbase and TeraFab in Texas, targeting roughly 13GW by 2027. To achieve record-breaking build times and bypass grid constraints, the company is utilizing modular equipment from Tesla, mobile gas turbines, and a nearly 6GWh battery energy storage system.

    1 source
  2. Worth knowing TechCrunch

    Data centers are turning to old jet engines as the wait for power grows

    This highlights the severe energy bottleneck slowing the AI infrastructure buildout and the unconventional, polluting workarounds companies are adopting to stay competitive.

    Facing multi-year delays for grid connections and new turbines, AI data center operators are turning to retired aircraft engines rebuilt to burn natural gas to generate electricity quickly. Companies including xAI, OpenAI, and Crusoe are deploying these converted jet engines to bring facilities online within two years, despite their lower efficiency and higher emissions.

    1 source

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