How Electricity Became the Hidden Frontline in the U.S.–China AI Rivalry
The AI conversation has long centered on algorithms, data, and hardware—but beneath every inference lies a more vital dimension: electricity. The key question isn’t just whose code is smartest—but whose power stays on.
China’s Tungsten Controls Expose a Semiconductor Chokepoint
WF6, a critical semiconductor gas, remains available despite reports of Japanese production exits. Yet China-linked tungsten feedstock controls, price spikes, concentrated supply, and 18–24-month qualification cycles expose a deeper bottleneck AI-driven chip demand cannot quickly solve.
Morgan Bazilian
The New Geography of AI Infrastructure
AI is making computation physical again: global AI capacity will follow not just chips and fiber, but power, water, cooling, permits, grid reliability, and the emerging Shadow Grid that turns energy infrastructure into the new map of AI advantage.
Brandon Owens
The Moratorium Map: How the AI Boom Is Redrawing the Geography of Power and Permission
A new AIxEnergy dataset tracks 234 policy actions across 230 geographies, revealing how local governments, states and power systems are turning access to land and electricity into a negotiated form of permission.
Brandon Owens
The Climate Outside the Fence: Why cooling conditions belong in every AI data-center siting model
The International Energy Agency’s July 2026 Electricity Mid-Year Update identifies expanding data-center capacity as one of the structural forces accelerating global power demand. The IEA expects worldwide electricity consumption to grow 3.6 percent in 2026 and 3.8 percent in 2027, reaching approximately 30,700 terawatt-hours. Its more focused April assessment of energy and artificial intelligence estimates that data-center electricity consumption increased 17 percent in 2025, while consumption
Brandon Owens
