Browsing: Energy
Power stories behind the technology, from grid strain and data center demand to batteries, nuclear restarts and the cost landing on your bill.
The world’s richest man says he is living in an Airstream trailer parked at xAI’s Memphis site so he can sleep steps from the servers. The trailer is the charming part. The 2 gigawatt facility it sits beside is the story.
Google is putting €13 billion into Finnish AI infrastructure and has signed a 22-year deal for up to half of the Loviisa nuclear plant’s output. The agreement rescues a reactor from retirement, and Finland’s opposition is not entirely thrilled.
A national emergency declaration restricts foreign made transformers, breakers, inverters and grid control software. The catch is that a replacement transformer already carries a 128 week wait, and US power demand is climbing for the first time in fifteen years.
Cherokee Nation banned hyperscale data centers on tribally owned and trust land after a task force found 64% of citizens opposed them. The same survey found 73% of those citizens use generative AI, and the report says so out loud.
Sam Altman argued that training a human takes energy too. Here is what he said and what IEA and Berkeley Lab data show about AI power use.