AI companies face mounting pressure to slash energy consumption as data centers devour gigawatts of power compared to the human brain's mere 20 watts, while DeepSeek's $6 million breakthrough model challenges trillion-dollar industry spending amid growing concerns over electric grid strain from $61 billion in infrastructure deals.
Alphabet acquires Intersect for $4.75 billion in cash plus debt to accelerate U.S. energy innovation and expand data center capacity, with the deal including multiple gigawatts of projects in development and expected closure in first half of 2026.
The U.S. Department of Energy launches the Genesis Mission, partnering with Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAI and 20 other organizations to harness artificial intelligence for accelerating scientific discovery, strengthening national security, and driving energy innovation through a scalable national research infrastructure.
Ford launches a $2 billion battery storage business targeting data centers and electric grids, repurposing its Kentucky factory to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries with 20GWh annual capacity starting in 2027 as it pivots from scaled-back electric vehicle plans to compete with Tesla and GM in energy storage.
Boom Supersonic raises $300 million to develop AI data center turbines and lands a massive $1.25 billion order from Crusoe for 29 water-free, 42-megawatt units that use the same supersonic technology powering their commercial airliners.
Geothermal startup Fervo Energy secures $462 million led by B Capital and Google to complete its massive 500-megawatt Cape Station plant in Utah, targeting 2026 to power Google's data centers while revolutionizing the industry by cutting well drilling time in half.
Nvidia-backed startup Starcloud makes history by successfully training the first AI model in space using an H100 GPU satellite 100 times more powerful than previous space computers, paving the way for massive orbital data centers that could solve Earth's energy crisis.
AI giants including Microsoft and Google pump $15 billion into nuclear fusion startups, signing massive power deals as energy-hungry data centers drive demand, with Helion Energy promising commercial fusion by 2028 and recent breakthroughs accelerating timeline from decades to years.
The Department of Energy launches AMP2, an AI-powered robot lab that operates 24/7 to accelerate research on bacteria and fungi for producing chemicals, energy, and biomaterials, positioning the U.S. to compete in a bioeconomy projected to grow from $4 trillion to $30 trillion by 2050.
Data center energy demand explodes 300% by 2035 as artificial intelligence drives massive infrastructure expansion, with new facilities averaging over 100 megawatts and AI accounting for 40% of total compute power, raising serious concerns about electrical grid reliability and soaring electricity costs across five key states.