AI Power Demand Exposes US Energy Gap, Urging Shift from Scarcity to Abundance
bradneuberg · x · 2026-07-22
For most of the 20th century, US energy use per capita steadily rose, but this growth stalled in the 1970s, shifting the focus to managing scarcity rather than building abundance.
Now, the massive power demands of AI data centers and Bitcoin miners are exposing this systemic issue. Rather than treating them as a problem, society should let this new demand finance new power generation, transmission, and grid capacity, making rising energy availability a national goal again.
Related event: AI Power Demand Highlights Long-Term US Energy Infrastructure Deficits(2 posts)→
More from AGI Musings
- NYT roundtable asks five experts what the rules for AI companies should actually be — ShakeelHashim · 2026-10-26
- Anti-AI content is algorithm gold and very profitable, quips commentator — annetgriffin · 2026-10-26
- Silicon Valley breakdown: five Stanford-area giants worth ~$18T — FinanceYF5 · 2026-10-26
- Anthropic says Claude leads 26% of its AI R&D — but self-improvement still has limits — Exponential View (Azeem Azhar) · 2026-10-26
- Humanoids shattered forecasts: half-marathon record in 2026, 100m faster than Bolt — ben_j_todd · 2026-10-26
- Stephen Casper on podcast: what if AI becomes a parasitic peer species in cyberspace — StephenLCasper · 2026-10-26