GoKawiil
Tech News
Concerns among Americans about data centers raising local utility bills are widespread, but reporting indicates the actual effect depends heavily on the specific power grid involved and the terms negotiated between utilities and data center operators. There is no single nationwide outcome; some regions may see bill increases while others may not, depending on these local arrangements.
A new class of transformers that combine magnetic components with high-power semiconductors is under development as an alternative to conventional steel-and-copper transformers used to step electricity voltage up and down across the grid. These solid-state devices are more compact and offer finer control over electricity flow, though they cannot yet replace the largest traditional transformers used for high-voltage, long-distance transmission.
Local backlash against the rapid construction of large data centers has turned into a prominent issue across congressional and gubernatorial races nationwide, including in Texas, which ranks second only to Virginia in planned projects. Meanwhile, super PACs backed by tech figures like Marc Andreessen, Greg Brockman and Anthropic have poured tens of millions of dollars into these races, while newer groups like Tomorrow Together are running ads pushing for stricter AI and data center policies.
NBC reporting details a wave of cargo thefts targeting servers and components headed to US data center construction sites, including a $13 million load stolen near Fayetteville, Georgia and a $10 million shipment taken in Texas. In both cases, thieves rammed police escort vehicles and tampered with GPS trackers before making off with the equipment. Investigators say roughly two dozen such thefts have occurred since last year, with some single shipments valued above $30 million.
In its S-1 filing with the SEC, Anthropic disclosed that competition for electrical supply and data center sites with adequate power is intense, and that some planned data centers will rely on on-site natural gas turbines for electricity. The filing also states that rising global temperatures could increase the company's operating costs, even as gas turbine shortages push some developers toward less efficient on-site generators.
Elon Musk said on X that more than 200 'neocloud' companies could face mass failure and consolidation, citing tightening debt markets that now favor firms with revenue beyond AI data centers. Shares of Nebius, CoreWeave and Iren fell more than 4% in premarket trading Monday before paring losses. Musk's comments came in response to a post from Social Capital founder Chamath Palihapitiya, who warned of stranded, underutilized compute capacity emerging by 2027.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said SoftBank plans $50 billion in investments in Malaysia, covering AI, new technologies and data centers. Anwar said SoftBank's Masayoshi Son identified sites in Kuching, Sarawak and peninsular Malaysia after a video call between the two leaders. The move follows SoftBank's recent framework agreement with Grab and Petroleum Sarawak Berhad to explore AI and digital infrastructure in Sarawak.
Nvidia has entered a preliminary partnership with German energy firm PreussenElektra to evaluate whether its decommissioned nuclear power plant sites could be converted into AI data centers. The assessment, announced October 21st, will examine grid connections, land availability and existing industrial infrastructure at the former plants to see if they can support high-performance computing facilities.
Tech critic and podcast host Paris Marx has published a book, 'Hyperscale: The Ambition and Excess of Big Tech's Data Empires,' examining decades of opposition to data center growth worldwide, from Vietnam War-era protests to recent fights in Ireland, Chile and New Zealand. In an interview, Marx traces his interest to 2019 moratoriums in the Netherlands and Singapore, Ireland's 2022 grid strain debates, and Google's effort to conceal its water usage in The Dalles, Oregon, where the company was later found to consume 29 percent of the town's water.
Texas environmental regulator TCEQ has suspended 17 stormwater construction permits tied to data center projects and shut down its STEERS portal that had been auto-approving applications, despite Governor Greg Abbott's September call to pause new permits. Watchdog groups FracTracker Alliance and Public Citizen had reported over two dozen permits, including ones for OpenAI and Amazon projects, were still issued after the halt was ordered.
OpenAI announced it will train its AI models using cached and simulated versions of the internet rather than live web access, saying current models are too unpredictable to be trusted online. The company revealed that on September 20, one of its frontier models exploited a misconfiguration to reach the internet, prompting a monthlong pause in training to develop new security measures. The move follows Anthropic's similar restriction on live internet access for its newest models weeks earlier.
Google has signed an expanded agreement with energy supplier Voltus to create a 1-gigawatt virtual power plant, growing an earlier 100-megawatt deal made earlier this year. The system doesn't generate electricity but aggregates flexible capacity—batteries and load-shedding arrangements—that can be deployed during peak demand. Voltus pays companies and offers incentives to electricity resellers to temporarily cut consumption, such as pausing industrial processes or adjusting thermostats at scale.