Engineering
AI data centers destabilized the PJM grid. It is architecture
A 2026 fault dropped 3.49 GW from the PJM grid in seconds, twice the 2024 event. NERC's top alert treats AI data center load as an architecture problem.
#data centers
11 stories tagged data centers.
Engineering
Meta's data center robotics push enters the physical layer
Meta's data center robotics tests target cable swaps and server resets. One trial could absorb 80% of some technician tasks, but major limitations remain.
Business
Amazon's giant Texas gas plant rewrites AI data center power
Amazon's 7.65-gigawatt off-grid gas plant in Texas, permitted to emit 33 million tons of CO2 per year for AI data center power, is twice the output of the worst US coal plant.
Engineering
45C liquid cooling gives Nvidia a tougher water defense
45C liquid cooling lets Rubin racks reject heat with dry coolers, cutting on-site water use while shifting scrutiny to power and buildout.
Business
Large-load interconnection gets a 60-day FERC test
A 60-day FERC test for large-load interconnection means AI builders should treat power flexibility as product infrastructure.
Engineering
Flexible data centers turn AI power into a grid dial
Flexible data centers let AI sites cut load for a few peak hours, with Duke finding 76 GW of headroom at 0.25% curtailment.
AI
Amazon data centers put 2.5B gallons on the AI bill
Amazon data centers used 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025. Treat that disclosure as a roadmap risk for AI products.
AI
Seattle data center moratorium tests AI’s power grab
A 365-day pause on large new facilities: Seattle's data center moratorium makes 369 MW the warning label for AI roadmaps.
Business
AI data center backlash hits Shelbyville's $2B bet
Shelbyville's $2B Prologis campus shows the AI data center backlash is now a zoning risk: trust can bottleneck compute before power does.
Data
What an AI prompt really costs in energy, water and CO2
A typical AI text prompt uses roughly 0.24 to 0.34 watt-hours and a fraction of a milliliter of water, not a bottle per email. Training is huge but rare, and inference is what adds up.
Business
Virtual power plants meet AI’s data center power wall
Google's 100 MW Voltus deal tests whether homes will flex for AI, using virtual power plants that coordinate flexible loads as capacity.