TechCrunch
Midterm voters have spoken: they're not thrilled about AI's power-hungry data centers. With Democrats in control of Congress, expect more moratoriums, fewer NDAs, and a lot of unhappy tech lobbyists.
Grist
Nebraska's largest utility is running low on power capacity for new development, and everyone from data centers to manufacturers is feeling the squeeze - while some communities keep rejecting the renewable projects that could help.
The Verge
OpenAI swaps 'data centers' for 'compute campuses' in a 900-word announcement where the old term appears twice - because nothing says 'we're listening' like a thesaurus.
TechCrunch
A federal judge ruled xAI's gas turbines aren't 'mobile' enough to dodge Clean Air Act permits, letting the NAACP's lawsuit proceed - proving that 'it's on wheels' is not a legal strategy.
The Guardian Europe
xAI offers to buy Mississippi homes - provided owners don't sue over the noise from its gas turbines. The deal: your house for your silence. Literally.
The Verge
A new report says Texas data centers could triple soot pollution and spike NOx emissions 136%, undoing decades of air quality gains - because your AI needs to breathe too.
TechCrunch
Ambrosia Energy is building a 10 GWh battery factory in Texas to power data centers with solar and batteries, because apparently the sun wasn't already doing that for free.
TechCrunch
Wood Mackenzie says batteries beat gas turbines in all 43 markets surveyed, because apparently basic economics finally caught up with the energy sector.
The Hill
Trump rallies for data centers in Ohio, arguing they're the difference between American AI dominance and Chinese superintelligence - locals argue they're the difference between affordable electricity and not.
TechCrunch
Amazon says it's done with NDAs and data centers are actually great, a claim met with the same enthusiasm as a used car salesman saying the odometer is definitely accurate.
The Verge
Amazon publishes a 3,000-word blog arguing that blocking AI data centers is basically treason, while quietly dropping the NDAs that kept everyone in the dark.
The Hill
Five lawmakers ask FERC to block BlackRock and EQT's $33B AES buyout, warning private equity's 15-20% return targets could mean ratepayers foot the bill for AI data centers.
Grist
Bipartisan senators are close to a permitting reform deal that everyone needs but no one wants to admit is for data centers - because voters hate those.
TechCrunch
Dutch startup Morphotonics secures €40M to scale up nanoimprint lithography for smart glasses and data center optics, because apparently your AR glasses and server farms have more in common than you thought.
The Atlantic
A new analysis says the data center panic is divorced from facts - communities are forgoing billions in tax revenue over exaggerated water, power, and land fears.
Grist
Georgia's utility regulators left Atlanta for Savannah, where residents let them know exactly how they feel about power bills, data centers, and the meaning of 'public service.'
The Atlantic
Data centers are springing up like unwanted weeds, and politicians are just now realizing that locals aren't thrilled about the AI-fueled concrete invasion in their backyards.
Grist
EPA just made it easier for data centers to build their own polluting power plants, because the 1990s were clearly a different era.
TechCrunch
Nvidia's latest move: invest in the plumbing so the AI gold rush doesn't run out of juice.
BBC Business
A rock-melting tunnel-boring machine that shoots 27,000C plasma is making undergrounding critical infrastructure trendy again - because drones and weather are getting too good at ruining above-ground stuff.
The Good Times
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