AI trends 2026

2,859 Comments

1. July 21, 2026 at 8:39 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1H6F5dSyXy/

   America is facing a growing water crisis as drought continues across large parts of the country while the rapid expansion of AI data centers adds new pressure to already limited water supplies.

   According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, nearly 39% of the United States and Puerto Rico is currently experiencing drought, while almost half of the contiguous U.S. is either abnormally dry or in drought. The most severe conditions remain in parts of the American West.

   One of the hardest-hit areas is the Colorado River Basin, which supplies water to about 40 million people and irrigates more than 5 million acres of farmland across seven U.S. states and parts of Mexico.

   The ongoing drought has reduced water available for farming, forced some ranchers to reduce livestock, and increased the risk of wildfires across the West.

   At the same time, the AI boom is driving a surge in new data centers. These facilities often use large amounts of water to cool their servers, especially during hot weather.

   As more data centers are planned in drought-prone regions, some communities are raising concerns about how limited water should be shared between homes, farms, and industry.

   Experts say data centers are not causing the drought, but they are becoming another major user of water in areas where supplies are already under stress.

   Officials across the western United States are working on long-term plans to conserve water and protect rivers and reservoirs as demand continues to grow.

   Sources: U.S. Drought Monitor (NOAA), Reuters, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

   Reply
2. July 21, 2026 at 8:41 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   https://natick.research.microsoft.com/

   Reply
3. July 21, 2026 at 8:52 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Air cooled works well on cold climate.
   Oil cooled can efficiently move heat efficiently away from computers without need for circulating lot of cooled air. There needs to be large chillers to cool the heated oil. Similarities to closed loop water cooling.
   Under water cooled has been researched https://natick.research.microsoft.com/
   Ocean can be used for cooling of data centers on the ground near sea – Google Hamina data center

   Reply
4. July 21, 2026 at 9:30 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   One of the reasons why we need more data centers is because more people are using AI to generate anti data center rhetoric and distributing them through data centers.

   Reply
5. July 21, 2026 at 10:59 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   “Golf courses use exponentially more water than data centers, consuming over 500 billion gallons annually in the U.S. alone for irrigation. In contrast, every data center in the country combined uses only a small fraction of that—roughly 17.4 billion gallons annually—with many modern AI facilities relying on closed-loop or dry-cooling systems that use virtually zero gallons.”

   Reply
6. July 21, 2026 at 12:00 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   It’s not looking good. https://trib.al/jk7eSB2

   SpaceX Is Learning a Nasty Lesson About Going Public When Your Main Product Is Experimental
   It’s not looking good.
   https://futurism.com/future-society/spacex-lesson-going-public-starship-experimental?fbclid=IwdGRjcATML9tjbGNrBMwvwWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHmtxqROgqMKPn4hGgNBEmybN_aOqFbeI_Ts2yh3jhT-6CAVSyPDm71J_i3Nq_aem_3xISYWRRTxFWZml_Fbs47Q

   On Thursday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX was forced to call off the latest launch attempt of its enormous Starship spacecraft. According to the almost-trillionaire, several engines failed to start, unintentionally serving as the perfect metaphor for the company’s persistent Wall Street woes.

   While a scrub of a rocket launch isn’t exactly anything out of the ordinary, it was the first attempt following the company’s blockbuster IPO last month. At first, SpaceX’s stock rocketed to an all-time high of $225 by mid-June, buoyed by plenty of pent-up investor enthusiasm.

   Reply
7. July 21, 2026 at 1:08 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   A new study found AI advice makes people confidently wrong.

   Researchers tested how people answer questions with AI help.

   Their accuracy dropped from 27% to just 9%.

   But their confidence jumped from 30% all the way to 76%.

   The share who admitted “I don’t know” fell from 44% to 3%.

   Some answered correctly alone, then asked AI and got it wrong.

   People are learning to trust answers they should be questioning.

   Read more on TNW: https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-advice-suppresses-critical-thinking-wrong-answers-study

   Reply
8. July 21, 2026 at 7:01 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Dozens of companies have now jumped into the race to develop data centers that they plan to lease to tech companies, separate from the facilities that Google and other AI firms are building for themselves.

   To their critics, data center developers are bad neighbors, constructing faceless industrial facilities that require massive amounts of energy and sometimes pollute the air in the process without producing a tangible benefit.

   To the industry, the developers are essential, providing the computing backbone that allows someone to scroll through years of Instagram photos, stream YouTube videos or ask a question of an AI chatbot.

   Read more: nbcnews.to/4wfYIUD

   Meet the little-known companies behind America’s data center boom
   AI demand has brought billions in financing to little-known developers while putting them at the center of fights over electricity, pollution and land.
   https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/data-center-developer-ai-boom-backlash-who-build-rcna353391?fbclid=IwdGRjcATMkodjbGNrBMySbmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHvQe7sCPCUBV31bkuhEl4U4Rfhv2A8B8QIwhvGTvDWdqm1qlxhfI_lMhR69t_aem_sRgAjUknjFKLBUqkSF1uog

   Reply
9. July 21, 2026 at 8:45 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18AstBov1e/

   A regulatory loophole has let in thousands of new fossil-fuel-burning power sources across Texas. The AI business is booming—but residents feel blindsided.

   This story is from Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action, and published in collaboration with WIRED.

   Reply
10. July 21, 2026 at 8:45 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1JFz5f6PnU/

    The United States is considering something that would have seemed unlikely just a few years ago.

    A temporary pause on new AI data centers.

    A newly proposed bill would suspend approvals for certain new AI data center projects while lawmakers study how these facilities could affect the nation’s electricity grid, water supplies, and local infrastructure.

    The concern isn’t artificial intelligence itself.

    It’s the scale of the infrastructure needed to support it.

    Modern hyperscale data centers can require hundreds of megawatts of electricity, with some consuming enough power to supply tens of thousands of homes. Depending on their design and location, certain facilities also use millions of gallons of water each day to keep thousands of servers from overheating.

    Supporters of the proposal argue that AI infrastructure is expanding faster than regulations can keep up. They believe a temporary pause would give policymakers time to develop national standards before more large facilities are built.

    Critics see it differently.

    They argue that delaying new projects could slow technological innovation, reduce investment, and weaken the country’s ability to compete in the global AI race.

    The proposal has not become law.

    But it reflects a much broader question that governments around the world are beginning to confront.

    As AI grows more powerful, should the focus be on building as quickly as possible or on making sure the infrastructure behind it is ready for the long term?

    Reply
11. July 22, 2026 at 11:33 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/technology/openai-attack-hugging-face.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zlA.kI7n.HgoniJc3OqNw&smid=url-share

    Reply
12. July 22, 2026 at 11:56 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/security/chatgpt-openai-cyber-attack-hugging-face-b3019382.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcATNgGtjbGNrBM2AZmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHokTpUlxgJxGZrvPOXbkQj5zHd6ccsKr7neM5Am_ZAlbctcGIngUUirTz4NU_aem_F9ABii2U_iIaSXi3_9pdiw

    Reply
13. July 22, 2026 at 1:27 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    We repeat: In one month. https://trib.al/VBwCW1L

    Buyer’s Remorse
    Unfortunate Company Accidentally Blows Half a Billion Dollars on Claude in One Month
    Whoops!
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/company-half-billion-dollars-claude-one-month?fbclid=IwdGRjcATNihFjbGNrBM2J8WV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHoBG7wEsBenTcdioWpGp32Og7heGPd2o3k8WwGLAdsLGJ2Le9jxcdmkIKZoq_aem_9ZJM5_rF3iPurB-SlKIzPg

    Ever regret picking up everyone’s tab after getting the check? Something like that is probably going through the mind of the CFO of an unnamed company which reportedly racked up half a billion dollars in Claude usage fees in a single month.

    The bonkers figure comes from new reporting by Axios on how organizations that rapidly adopted AI are now reckoning with its exorbitant costs, which are mounting in tandem with skepticism over the benefits the technology is supposed to provide.

    Regarding the unnamed and deeply unfortunate company, an AI consultant told the outlet that it blew a staggering $500 million in a month after the small oversight of “failing to put usage limits on Claude licenses for employees.”

    It’s an astonishing amount that speaks both to the actual costs of using AI tools — especially AI agents, which are more sophisticated and expensive — and the corporate zeal around embracing AI as quickly as possible. Which is more to blame is a matter of debate, but the breathless hype around AI’s ability to maximize efficiency is clearly blowing back on the tech’s evangelists.

    https://www.axios.com/2026/05/28/ai-spending-roi-enterprise-costs?fbclid=IwVERDUATNil5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR7nocmT60_skujjubUXRMazH9ULG0fQ3LQ7248rgWtHtsci3j0L4dfT83bzOg_aem_AkTVn2ZUSfnPn00HrRrK8Q

    Reply
14. July 22, 2026 at 2:09 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    “They are still far from human-level performance.” https://trib.al/YOYw5nT

    Entry Level
    Frontier AI Is Faceplanting at Real-World Workplace Tasks
    “They are still far from human-level performance.”
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/frontier-ai-faceplanting-real-world-tasks?fbclid=IwdGRjcATNn3tjbGNrBM2fV2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHnb_ZpSLBE7EoWm_ElQ4pVLhRFCz0V68QRghzeXq01_tb2DOv2d_VTuwi8-u_aem__GVSxByu1kqP4h9c0HqEPg

    To date, AI industry spending has topped $1.6 trillion, and shows no sign of slowing anytime soon.

    So what do we actually have to show for it? Historically, it’s been a whole lot of nothing: as numerous studies have shown us, tools like AI chatbots and autonomous agents have been ineffective at completing real world tasks in a competent way.

    The tech industry insists that’s all about to change within the next few years, as AI’s capabilities grow by leaps and bounds, enabling economic growth the likes of which the world has never seen. But is it really?

    Not necessarily. A new study out of the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence — flagged by the College Fix — shows that frontier AI tools of all makes and models are still incapable of completing the vast majority of workplace tasks at an acceptable level, throwing a major wrench in the tech industry’s assertions that the AI revolution is imminent.

    Reply
15. July 22, 2026 at 3:29 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    There are zero upsides — and measurable downsides. https://trib.al/VO1hHrp

    Risky bets
    Large Study Finds That Replacing Workers With AI Is Backfiring Badly
    Oops.
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/layoffs-ai-automation-backfire?fbclid=IwdGRjcATNsehjbGNrBM2xymV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHvVHGtEWQx8dPo40qz22KaW7VQUc7Q6dWjtNd4OCOcuXsn8saXDNVNuEK4hX_aem_c9l8h74ZAs76lmleRxqcLA

    As AI continues to weave its way into every corner of daily life, one of the public’s chief fears is what it will mean in the workplace.

    They’re not irrational to worry. Many name-brand big tech companies have already sacked thousands of workers in favor of the technology, from Meta to Square — a trend that sets up a natural experiment: are these AI layoffs actually resulting in positive business outcomes?

    That’s why a new study from Gartner immediately caught our eye. As Fortune reports, the research and advisory firm surveyed 350 global business executives whose companies are pulling in at least $1 billion annually to investigate whether all these AI layoffs are paying off in the real world.

    The first takeaway is that the trend is real, with a total of 80 percent admitted to trimming their human staff to make investments in AI or autonomous technology. But they say they had no idea if AI would actually generate any benefits — they were simply buying into the promise of automation via AI.

    The findings aren’t entirely surprising. An MIT study last year found that AI is failing to generate meaningful revenue growth at the vast majority of companies that embrace it.

    Still, not everyone believes that all investment in AI is destined to backfire. Gartner analyst Helen Poitevin told Fortune that these seemingly drastic moves by execs may simply be attempts to trial AI, not to structurally reset the whole company.

    Reply
16. July 22, 2026 at 5:50 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/artificial-intelligence

    Reply
17. July 22, 2026 at 8:58 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    The meltdown that launched a thousand terrible AI adaptations. https://trib.al/sL6iYw9

    The Gift of Grok
    Elon Musk Says Grok Will Generate Its Own Feature-Length Version of “The Odyssey” for People Allergic to Progressive Ideas
    The meltdown that launched a thousand terrible AI adaptations.
    https://futurism.com/future-society/elon-musk-ai-woke-free-odyssey?fbclid=IwdGRjcATN_thjbGNrBM3-uWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHoUufQdn76qp0f9yKzcBtYATs0NE_I8qsm_OQw4AHH_CdqMxE8UfuJtTvi9d_aem_65SJGNDeR-b1FMYSABrCcQ

    Is it possible to not like a movie in a normal way? Can it simply not be “your thing” without being transposed onto some intangible, ever-raging culture war?

    It certainly isn’t if you’re an anti-woke crusader like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Like a lot of very online right wingers who are suddenly qualified classicists, he’s very upset about the new Odyssey adaptation directed by Christopher Nolan.

    Nolan, according to Musk, “desecrated Homer and groveled on his knees just to meet the woke rules required to win an Oscar.” That’s because his movie dares to do stuff like cast Black women and a trans man in prominent roles, making the director what Musk termed an “anti-White racist.” In other words, it’s supposedly not “historically accurate” — never mind the fact that the epic poem contains gods wandering the Earth and a Cyclops.

    Reply
18. July 22, 2026 at 9:00 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    “All that research will have gone to waste if it doesn’t translate to guardrails that hold private companies accountable.” https://trib.al/L0LiyD8

    What could once be characterized as a fairly non-antagonistic relationship between tech luminaries and the high-paid professionals laboring under their vision is no longer a given.A major rift is forming between tech employees and the executives running their companies, and it has a lot to do with AI regulation.

    According to Wired, workers at OpenAI are now beefing with the AI lab’s co-founder and current president, Greg Brockman. At issue is Brockman’s highly controversial electioneering strategy: OpenAI-linked super PACs have spent tens of millions of dollars on the 2026 US midterm elections, in an effort to boost candidates seen as friendly to the AI industry.

    Reply
19. July 22, 2026 at 9:00 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Internal Developments
    AI CEOs Facing Full-on Revolt From Employees
    “All that research will have gone to waste if it doesn’t translate to guardrails that hold private companies accountable.”
    https://futurism.com/future-society/ai-ceos-workers-tech-revolt-employees-openai?fbclid=IwdGRjcATOAA1jbGNrBM3_yGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHu4txk1xFgxZMazeNXjWBMufNnJqMnY4a_w24XRwD1bDHP4Z_Rc3AbZHFYRv_aem_JUeWa8w_iq0CIW8-4UAM9A

    Reply
20. July 22, 2026 at 9:19 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    This doesn’t bode well. https://trib.al/TJDcdGh

    Giving Enron
    AI Companies Are Trying to Hide a Staggering Amount of Debt
    This doesn’t bode well.
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-companies-hide-debt-off-balance-sheet?fbclid=IwdGRjcATOA9FjbGNrBM4DumV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHnW6iPJoCmTEoLU4KimBjCuGrBOC6GOuHi32_VTzEMH4xr_b0gt0PiyLM_ri_aem_SR5dSwd9euMuPQvbt0PVrA

    AI companies are pouring untold billions of dollars into enormous data centers in their efforts to sustain increasingly complex and resource-intensive AI models.

    It’s an extremely costly undertaking built on seemingly bottomless hype — and a mountain of debt. As Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei Asia found in a recent investigation, just five US tech giants — Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle — are hiding an estimated $1.65 trillion in debt that doesn’t appear on balance sheets. That’s even more than the $1.35 trillion in debt the five companies officially reported in their financial data for the most recent quarter.

    Meta alone has amassed around $420 billion in off-balance-sheet debt, according to Nikkei, highlighting how precarious the AI industry’s steep investment in AI has become, and inspiring comparisons to energy company Enron, which collapsed in spectacular fashion in 2001 because of similar debts hidden behind shell companies. Like Enron, they’re using special purpose vehicles, or off-balance sheet arrangements such as legally distinct subsidiaries, as a way to make their financial reporting look healthier than it actually is — often a glaring sign that something is deeply amiss behind the scenes.

    “The accounting treatment itself is in fashion,” technical accounting consultant Tom Selling told Bloomberg. “But what if one of these companies was a house of cards and was propping itself up with this accounting treatment? To me, that’s the risk.”

    Experts continue to warn of an AI bubble, noting the enormous and widening gulf between company valuations and their comparatively measly profits.

    To keep up with the ongoing AI race, tech giants are committing vast sums to build out large-scale data center projects, a long-term bet that may — or may not — pay off. They’re also selling new shares to raise new funds, as Nikkei reports, which could lead to equity dilution and a drop in investor confidence.

    The pressure is on: four of the five companies Nikkei analyzed are set to report second quarter earnings in the coming days and weeks.

    Reply
21. July 22, 2026 at 9:22 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Wrong Direction
    There’s a Gigantic Problem at the Heart of the AI Industry That Could Cause the Whole Thing to Collapse
    It just doesn’t make any sense.
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/problem-ai-industry-collapse-efficiency?fbclid=IwVERDUATOBH5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR72cfLkCmkSma7_Sn2cRrJYG7MEZSbJ6qxG5MDlbJdQPt2EdqydaMvYQ0MVuw_aem_J7mz-ifBqtEPzjdCtVBL3g

    For years, AI companies have been selling investors on the idea that scaling up operations is the key to success — the bigger the AI model, the more powerful it becomes.

    But in practice, that premise is leading to enormous business problems. As The Atlantic points out, LLMs are suffering from severely diminishing returns: the cost of inference, or the act of using a trained AI model to process new data, is rising exponentially, making the tech far less lucrative than it was even half a year ago.

    Put simply, it’s effectively the opposite of what investors would conventionally want to see, as The Atlantic argues, which would be a continuous drop in cost per user instead of the reverse.

    That’s bad news for an industry pouring billions of dollars into the construction of enormous data centers across the country, despite having no clear path to profitability in the foreseeable future. While it’s impossible to predict when exactly fears of an AI bubble will hit a breaking point, analysts warn it’s a matter of when, not if. The consequences could be disastrous if the industry were to collapse in on itself, bringing down entire economies — which have vastly over-indexed on AI tech — with it.

    Nonetheless, AI companies are steadfast in their belief that chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, are the future.

    They’ve become practically inescapable in our day-to-day lives, from integrations in operating systems to replacing humans on customer service calls — despite a major public backlash that represents another headwind for the industry.

    Meeting AI’s rapidly growing demands will also require revolutionary leaps in hardware tech that are becoming increasingly harder to come by, with experts warning of the imminent end of Moore’s Law

    In short, as behemoth AI models are quickly becoming unaffordable to those who’ve grown to rely on them, they’re also becoming far less efficient — a concerning trajectory that could nudge the entire economy closer to the brink.

    Reply
22. July 22, 2026 at 9:22 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Feel The Burn
    AI Bubble Fears Are Starting to Spill Over
    Investors are freaking out.
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-bubble-fears-tsmc-nvidia-earnings?fbclid=IwVERDUATOBSVleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR72cfLkCmkSma7_Sn2cRrJYG7MEZSbJ6qxG5MDlbJdQPt2EdqydaMvYQ0MVuw_aem_J7mz-ifBqtEPzjdCtVBL3g

    Reply
23. July 23, 2026 at 11:25 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DDBKiqu5o/

    Google now scores whether AI agents can read your website. Most sites fail.

    The audit checks three things: an llms.txt file at your domain root, agent-readable page structure, and a stable layout. Fail them and an AI agent shopping on a customer’s behalf can’t use your store.

    Check yours free in 30 seconds. No email needed.

    If it fails, we fix it in 5 working days through your own admin panel, for one fixed price. Every applicable check in Google’s AI-readiness audit passes within 5 working days of admin access, or full refund.

    https://thesocialtarget.com/ai-visibility?ref=d2-most-sites-fail-w6&fbclid=IwdGRjcATOynFleHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqzn0K4mUbXNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHn-Hh_iJX76vateuXj2VI5yRCyMU7-u1IfGkI5Y7UqfxItE_02nzlipEW0YV_aem_y7UEFM1IfaHxSl9Hf9ASvQ&utm_medium=paid&utm_source=fb&utm_id=120253535859810285&utm_content=120253535873920285&utm_term=120253535862250285&utm_campaign=120253535859810285

    Reply
24. July 23, 2026 at 1:44 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Judge approves Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement with authors
    The payout resolves claims that Anthropic pirated books to build its AI training library.
    https://mashable.com/tech/judge-approves-1-5-billion-anthropic-copyright-settlement?fbclid=IwVERDUATO6sFleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR6g5ICt3i-tvdOpBNCj4arjNCDll2pQPn1tOqIdPqwiY-WGAQ6GeQlCLBWFzw_aem_IdvARS7u6x3OqQgn9cN1zg

    A federal judge in San Francisco has granted final approval to a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and a class of authors who accused the AI company of illegally downloading their copyrighted books, closing out what the court called the largest copyright class action settlement in history.

    U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín signed the order on July 20, resolving claims brought by lead plaintiffs Andrea Bartz, Kirk Wallace Johnson, and others over Anthropic’s use of pirated libraries LibGen and PiLiMi to build its book collection. Notably, the underlying dispute centered on how Anthropic acquired the books, not on whether training AI models with copyrighted material is lawful.

    In an earlier ruling cited throughout the order, the court had already determined that the use of training itself constituted fair use.

    Per the settlement, authors and publishers whose pirated books ended up on Anthropic’s “Works List” can claim roughly $3,000 per book — about four times the usual minimum for copyright infringement cases. More than 91 percent of eligible works, over 440,000 books, have already been claimed. Anthropic also has to delete the pirated files it downloaded.

    The settlement only releases Anthropic from liability for how it acquired the training data in the past — not from future lawsuits over what the chatbot generates, or new claims going forward. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín was explicit that the settlement does not release claims for future harm or claims “based on the output of AI models.”

    Reply
25. July 23, 2026 at 1:45 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Apple Store app will soon get an AI shopping assistant
    But will it be a Genius?
    https://mashable.com/tech/apple-store-ai-shopping-assistant?fbclid=IwVERDUATO63FleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR6g5ICt3i-tvdOpBNCj4arjNCDll2pQPn1tOqIdPqwiY-WGAQ6GeQlCLBWFzw_aem_IdvARS7u6x3OqQgn9cN1zg

    Reply
26. July 23, 2026 at 2:31 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Clean data is running out. So AI firms are buying old books.

    So much of the web is now written by AI that models are choking on it.

    Books printed before 2022 came out before chatbots existed.

    That makes them clean, human-written text that no machine has touched.

    To scan them fast, workers slice the spine off and destroy the book.

    Buyers keep their names secret, because pulping books looks bad.

    The rarest thing in AI now is a page no machine ever wrote.

    Read more on TNW: https://thenextweb.com/news/ai-companies-buying-old-books-training-data-slop

    Reply
27. July 23, 2026 at 2:35 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    The breach happened in late 2025 but went public in July 2026, just as labels expand their lawsuit over tens of thousands of disputed recordings.

    Full story: https://wp.me/pd7O60-cyb

    Reply
28. July 23, 2026 at 4:25 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Five US tech giants’ hidden debts soar to $1.65tn on opaque AI funding
    Data center leases, GPU supply contracts raise liabilities at Meta, Oracle, Nikkei study shows
    https://asia.nikkei.com/business/technology/five-us-tech-giants-hidden-debts-soar-to-1.65tn-on-opaque-ai-funding

    Reply
29. July 23, 2026 at 7:00 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    BREAKING: The water industry just warned that the UK DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH WATER for future DATA CENTRES. But the government still wants to triple data centre capacity by 2030 anyway…

    Time for the new government to have a re-think?!

    ⁠Our water and climate is more important than Big Tech’s profits.
    https://act.gp/4yAvqkV

    Reply
30. July 23, 2026 at 8:37 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DTR2Bj9t1/

    AI-driven data centers are projected to consume 20% of all US electricity by 2035, a sharp increase from 5.9% today and an estimated 12% by 2030, according to a new forecast from BloombergNEF.

    The research firm expects US data center power demand to reach 194 gigawatts by 2035, an 83% increase from its December forecast, driven by a growing pipeline of AI infrastructure projects.

    The rapid expansion is expected to place greater strain on power grids, particularly in data center hubs like Virginia and Texas, while intensifying challenges related to grid connections, permitting, and environmental concerns. BloombergNEF also forecasts a 19-gigawatt power shortfall by 2035 even if record grid connection rates continue.

    Reply
31. July 23, 2026 at 9:48 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    This chart reveals how much Google has grown its head count in the last year : https://mrf.lu/2tzV6

    The AI boom didn’t stop Google from hiring nearly 12,000 people
    https://www.businessinsider.com/chart-shows-google-alphabet-head-count-growth-2026-7?fbclid=IwdGRjcATPXKFjbGNrBM9chmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHpRMn_SfQk3UpwPiLd49jOVMLigrMx4nD4Ythe-sKtTZUMsMbWU5X9wIYFA5_aem_PHKjJTNvylxqutJ_VF1ngg&utm_campaign=mrf-insider-marfeel-headline-graphic&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&mrfcid=202607236a625f3e64743358b4558628

    As companies make rounds of job cuts and double down on AI spend, Google’s parent company Alphabet is expanding its workforce.

    Alphabet reported blockbuster second-quarter earnings, with revenue climbing 24% year over year to $119.8 billion. The company revealed in its earnings report that it increased head count by 11,830 employees, from 187,103 to 198,933, between June 30, 2025 and June 30, 2026.

    Reply
32. July 23, 2026 at 10:22 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    “I’m impressed that OpenAI’s ChatGPT is already mimicking admirable human qualities such as ingenuity, rebelliousness and, yes, laziness.”

    Don’t panic! AI going rogue is no cause for alarm
    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/ai-open-rogue-attack-artificial-intelligence-panic-b3020153.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcATPZJNjbGNrBM9kfWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHkTlTW2JZ-1epTFPduwNaZUNqBteSbbwjcbCqF8CSDu5jtl72Jf6cMhFjD9D_aem_pXkoOwG22NiaGT5XzpnPCQ

    A ‘mind-blowing’ incident in which an artificial intelligence model bypassed its safeguards to attack a rival has been branded a wake-up call for humanity, but Sean O’Grady is impressed by the advance – which, he says, is no different to every other technological revolution that has inspired fear before changing the world

    Reply
33. July 23, 2026 at 10:24 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    “It’s time to take a stand and say enough is enough.” https://trib.al/zwbB1G2

    Google Zero
    Google’s Immense Greed Is Destroying the Open Web
    “It’s time to take a stand and say enough is enough.”
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/google-greed-destroying-open-web?fbclid=IwdGRjcATPZSpjbGNrBM9lDWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHv_lJfiq-ilFEuiGZ_EoD3Q1AZ9rBkpYUyY98VbQWduUjOry8OpADM9z6cwp_aem_qRJnThB5M2cu2j2pXDVCow

    Publishers have watched in horror as Google continues to double down on AI features that discourage users from actually clicking on links — a once-steady source of readership that’s causing a crisis in the media now that the search engine is cutting it off.

    The situation has become so dire that some publications are now debating whether to cut Google off entirely, as the Wall Street Journal reports, illustrating an increasingly fraught relationship between the tech giant and the publishers that are creating content its AI models are regurgitating.

    Reply
34. July 23, 2026 at 10:25 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Sky High
    Google Admits It Missed Its Climate Goals — Again — Because of AI
    “The biggest change to our environmental impact is the expansion of our technical infrastructure — and the energy needed to operate it.”
    https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/google-missed-climate-goals-ai?fbclid=IwVERDUATPZVRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAwzNTA2ODU1MzE3MjgAAR7gEnbGWYmN1h7lGQpsRpHB-D-1oNJLBqVLT8W-awHd92Mr52HNGrsQmgsUwg_aem_FaYF-1PCDkObtHx_6Nj2Ww

    Google’s electricity use and emissions skyrocketed last year due to its aggressive AI infrastructure buildout, according to the company’s most recent environmental impact report.

    “The biggest change to our environmental impact is the expansion of our technical infrastructure — and the energy needed to operate it,” reads the report.

    Reply
35. July 23, 2026 at 10:33 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    AMD is betting the future of AI won’t rely on a single chip, unveiling a Cerebras partnership and new Helios system to challenge Nvidia.

    #AMD #Cerebras #Nvidia #AI

    AMD takes a shot at Nvidia by betting on AI’s next big shift : https://mrf.lu/2thWK

    Reply
36. July 23, 2026 at 10:58 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Matthew Gallagher took just two months, $20,000 and more than a dozen A.I. tools to get his start-up off the ground. As A.I. tools spread, entrepreneurs are harnessing the technology to expand their start-ups to an enormous scale at breathtaking speed with very few humans. Gallagher has found that using A.I. is super efficient — and a little bit lonely. https://nyti.ms/4vhKcM6

    Reply
37. July 23, 2026 at 10:58 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    TL;DR: he used AI to make a shady ozempic webshop
    how inspiring!

    Reply
38. July 23, 2026 at 11:32 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    “Weird Al” Yankovic: Real person, writes original comedy and seeks permission from artists before parodying songs.
    “Weird A.I.”: Computer-generated voice clones or internet jokes playing on the capital “I” looking like a lowercase “l”.

    Reply
39. July 23, 2026 at 11:33 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/weird-al-yankovic-ai-commercial-1235588278/
    ‘Weird Al’ Has Seen Your ‘Weird A.I.’ Jokes and He Is Unamused
    In fact, Yankovic says he turned down “a nice pile of money” to do a commercial for an AI company

    Reply
40. July 24, 2026 at 5:04 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/chatgpt-hacked-company-hugging-face-incident-openai-b3020680.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcATPwrBjbGNrBM_Ch3Bkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEecAGtFBfb9j6Cv38KTzGDaRZwW8_geh7O1XJ-kYEfF7v9RiWX7MT_8uA_chU_aem_VBM3JhFdCugdYZpIFMQYlg

    Reply
41. July 24, 2026 at 7:25 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    They want to use their smart phones, the Internet, and the computers, but they don’t want the system that supports it in their backyard. End of story.

    Want to stop data centers? Take away the reason for them. For instance: protest the rise of AI; stop posting videos and photos; stop posting whole movies on YT. Stop accessing websites if you really do care. All the things you do on the internet use data centers, and all those photos and videos take up a lot of space. And stop using the Cloud: it is not white billows in the sky. “Cloud” is a marketing word that means “data center.” Where do you think all those things go?

    Reply
42. July 24, 2026 at 7:29 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Data center opponents stage 142 protests across 42 US states
    https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/us-data-center-protests-go-national-backlash-grows-2026-07-18/

    Organizers demand transparency, resource safeguards, community benefits and developer accountability
    Only 14% back an AI data center in their community, June Reuters/Ipsos poll showed
    Texas hosted 18 protests, the most of any state
    Turnout lower than expected at some rallies, local organizers say

    July 18 (Reuters) – Opponents of the rapid buildout of data centers held ​142 protests across 42 states on Saturday in the first nationwide effort to channel anger at the AI infrastructure expansion that has ramped up over ‌the past year and roiled local politics.
    The protests were coordinated by HumansFirst, co-founded by a former leader of the modern-day Tea Party. She compares growing opposition to data centers to the right-wing populist movement that emerged in 2009 to protest what it saw as excessive taxation and government overreach.

    Protesters rallied against what HumansFirst calls the “unaccountable” buildout of data centers and “unacceptable infringement on our liberty.”

    Attendance was lower than expected in some rural ⁠areas and major cities such as Atlanta, local organizers told Reuters. But HumansFirst praised the efforts of community activists. “We were thrilled with the turnout,” Barron said.

    Data center opposition is among the ​few issues uniting Americans across ideological lines, with just a third of Americans approving of the pace of data center construction in the U.S., according to a June Reuters/Ipsos poll. Only 14% ​of respondents would support a data center being built in their community to support artificial intelligence projects for technology firms such as Meta (META.O), opens new tab, Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab, Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab, Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab and Elon Musk’s xAI.

    “The data center industry is continuing to work with policymakers, stakeholders, and residents to ensure data centers strengthen, not strain, the areas where they operate — while mitigating any negative impacts to households and businesses,” said Josh Levi, president of the Data Center Coalition, the ​industry’s association and lobbying group.

    “It’s dystopian that you would use this much fresh water for AI,”

    Although water is frequently cited as a top public ⁠concern, especially ​in water-stressed regions, the data center industry says its water use is not as significant as other industries.

    Reply
43. July 24, 2026 at 7:30 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.humansfirst.com/july-18-datacenters

    Reply
44. July 24, 2026 at 7:31 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://time.com/article/2026/07/22/community-backlash-ai-data-centers/

    Reply
45. July 24, 2026 at 7:39 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Democrats seize on AI data center backlash that’s dividing rural Republicans in places like Texas
    Data centers have already upended races for local offices across the country, often uniting conservatives and liberals in revolting against projects in their midst
    https://www.courthousenews.com/democrats-seize-on-ai-data-center-backlash-thats-dividing-rural-republicans-in-places-like-texas/

    But with barely three months until November’s contest, the perceived threat to rural life, ranchland and dwindling water supplies could become a defining issue for her long-shot challenge to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, dividing conservative rural areas that have traditionally served as a counterweight to Democrats’ urban strongholds.

    The backlash to energy-guzzling server warehouses is also shaping other statewide campaigns from Arizona to Ohio to New York, and even giving Democrats a glimmer of hope in Texas, where Republicans have dominated for three decades.

    “There is this little issue that I recently started hearing about that I wanted to tell you about, in case you don’t know,”

    The crowd booed, and she went on: “They are owned by the richest men in the world. We’re all footing the bill. There are no rules. It is the wild west of data centers.”

    The fast growth of massive data centers has already upended races for local offices across the country, often uniting conservatives and liberals in revolting against projects in their midst.

    People don’t like the secrecy surrounding the projects or the prospect of air, noise, water and light pollution. They fear electric bills going up, wells going dry and losing open space, farmland or forest.

    Now the ripple effects have spread to top-of-the-ticket races, where incumbents and challengers are trying to show that they hear an angry electorate.

    “tax the rich, fund our schools and stop AI data centers” as she campaigns for her party’s nomination

    Texas is fertile ground for data centers
    Any political unrest may be felt most acutely in Texas.

    The state is poised to overtake northern Virginia as the largest global data center market by 2030, according to a report by commercial real estate giant JLL. It has lots of land, lots of energy and a friendly regulatory environment under Republican leadership.

    In rural west Texas and its panhandle, gargantuan data centers are under construction, including one near Amarillo touted as the world’s largest. Some come with designs for natural gas-fired turbines to power them.

    Rumors are flying about others popping up

    Google says its investments are advancing American innovation, fortifying cybersecurity and boosting energy capacity, while President Donald Trump has made data centers a top priority to help the U.S. compete against China for AI superiority.

    But tech giants and developers can be secretive about their plans, making it impossible to know what will be built or what sort of pollution they’ll create, critics say. Some worry that data centers will destroy rural Texas’ low cost of living and sully sunsets and sweeping views that stretch toward the horizon.

    Others say construction and an influx of workers are already causing havoc for ranchers and towns, driving up rents, snapping up farmland, illuminating the night sky, clogging roads and turning parts of rural Texas into industrial zones.

    Opposition crosses a partisan divide
    Democrats are prominent among the data center critics, but so are Republicans

    Of great concern is the prospect that data centers will consume massive amounts of water and worsen drought conditions for ranchers and farmers in a state where water shortages already crippled the sugar cane industry.

    Texas is increasingly steamrolling over landowner rights in the quest for public water, Dalby said, and that could mean that data centers get in line ahead of ranchers when shortages or rationing worsen.

    Clayton Tucker, a rancher and the Democratic nominee for state agriculture commissioner, said his campaign events are consumed by talk of data centers. It doesn’t matter whether he’s meeting with Democrats or Republicans.

    “This is the most cross-partisan issue I’ve ever seen in my life,” Tucker said.

    Meanwhile, protest groups are springing up

    “They’ll just hit that button, Republican all the way down,” Bertrand said. “But I think it’s a step towards something that we have not seen in Texas in a long time, with people on the right switching to the left. Or scooting a little closer to the middle, maybe.”

    Reply
46. July 24, 2026 at 11:36 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EgDnqP3iS/

    AMERICANS ARE FIGHTING BACK AGAINST AI — AND IT JUST BECAME A NATIONAL MOVEMENT

    On one single Saturday, 142 communities across 42 U.S. states organized protests against the AI data center boom. This is no longer a local zoning fight — it’s turning into a national political flashpoint.

    A new wave of grassroots resistance against the AI infrastructure buildout has reached a scale nobody anticipated. According to Reuters, opponents of rapid data center construction held 142 coordinated protests across 42 states on July 18 — the first nationwide day of action of its kind, according to organizers.

    What happened

    The demonstrations were organized by HumansFirst, a group co-founded by Amy Kremer, a former Tea Party leader and co-founder of Women for Trump. Kremer has framed the movement as nonpartisan, arguing that both political parties have given technology companies a “free pass” to build massive data centers with little community input. According to reporting from Yournews and the Epoch Times, Texas led the nation with 18 separate demonstrations, followed by Georgia with 11, California with eight, and Pennsylvania, Florida, and Indiana with seven each.

    Protesters raised concerns over rising electricity bills, heavy water usage, falling property values, and strain on local roads and infrastructure. In Fredericksburg, Virginia, one protester’s sign read: “We thrive on water not data.” Conservative commentators have also pointed to real cost impacts — one Virginia energy customer reportedly received notice of an $8 monthly rate increase tied to new transmission infrastructure needed to serve data centers.

    Why it matters

    This is a turning point. Data center opposition has existed at the local level for years, but this marks the first time it has been organized as a unified, national campaign. Kremer has publicly predicted that data centers will become a defining issue in the November midterms and the 2028 presidential race.

    Financial impact

    The numbers behind the backlash are staggering. Research firm Data Center Watch reported that more than $130 billion in AI infrastructure projects were delayed or canceled in the first quarter of 2026 alone due to local opposition. Cumulative blocked or delayed investment is now estimated at roughly $286 billion. The number of organized opposition groups has more than doubled to over 800 across 49 states since the end of last year.

    Which companies are involved

    While the protests don’t target one single company, they represent growing resistance to the broader AI buildout led by major players like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, and OpenAI — all of whom have announced multi-billion-dollar data center campuses across the country this year.

    What could happen next

    With opposition groups growing and political figures on both sides taking notice, expect increased scrutiny of new data center proposals, more local ballot measures, and pressure on state regulators over electricity pricing tied to AI infrastructure. Whether this movement stays nonpartisan — or becomes a defining 2028 campaign issue, as organizers predict — remains to be seen.

    Do you think local communities should have more power to block AI data centers, or is this resistance standing in the way of American technological progress? Tell us what you think.

    Source: Reuters / TIME

    Reply
47. July 24, 2026 at 6:23 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/share/18JoF3AUdg/

    U.S. Data Center Server Energy Use Could Reach 818 Billion kWh Across Commercial Buildings

    The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects that electricity consumption by data center servers will rise sharply through 2050 as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow. Server electricity use alone is expected to reach 446-818 billion kilowatt-hours (BkWh) by 2050, with standalone data centers accounting for the largest share.

    Data centers are becoming one of the biggest electricity consumers in commercial buildings. Servers accounted for an estimated 7% of commercial-sector electricity use in 2025, and that share is projected to increase to 22% – 33% by 2050, depending on future electricity demand and AI adoption.

    The rapid expansion of data centers will also increase the energy intensity of commercial buildings. By 2031–2032, commercial buildings are expected to exceed their previous record for electricity use per square foot, driven largely by energy-hungry servers and the cooling systems needed to keep them operating efficiently.

    Cooling is a major part of data center energy demand. The EIA estimates that data center cooling can be up to 2.9 times more energy-intensive than cooling other commercial spaces. In the High Electricity Demand scenario, cooling alone is projected to consume 84 billion kilowatt-hours more electricity in 2050 than in the baseline case.

    Although future servers are expected to become more energy-efficient, the continued growth in server installations (especially AI servers operating around the clock) is projected to outweigh those efficiency gains. As a result, total electricity consumption from data centers is expected to continue rising throughout the coming decades.

    Sources:
    U.S. Energy Information Administration – 2026
    Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS)
    Annual Energy Outlook 2026 (AEO2026) Counterfactual Baseline and High Electricity Demand cases

    Reply
48. July 24, 2026 at 7:32 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    By 2030, it’s projected that data centers will account for nearly 3% of the world’s projected electricity use.

    Reply
49. July 24, 2026 at 8:36 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.brockovichdatacenter.com/

    Reply
50. July 24, 2026 at 8:38 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1budaVAbqz/

    Erin Brockovich, the environmental activist who helped expose PG&E’s poisoned water scandal, is now investigating the rapid expansion of AI data centres across America.

    In the 1990s, Brockovich uncovered evidence that PG&E had contaminated groundwater in Hinkley, California, with toxic hexavalent chromium.

    Her work helped build the case that resulted in a $333 million settlement for more than 600 residents in 1996.

    Now she is turning her attention to the enormous facilities being built to power the AI boom.

    In April 2026, Brockovich launched a public map and reporting platform asking people to document data centres being built or proposed near their communities.

    More than 8,200 reports have since been submitted, raising concerns about water consumption, rising electricity costs, noise, pollution, wildlife and developments being approved without communities fully understanding their impact.

    Brockovich is not claiming every data centre is harmful, and she has not announced one giant lawsuit against the AI industry.

    She is gathering evidence, tracking patterns and demanding answers about who benefits and who pays the environmental price.

    Thirty years ago, she started asking questions about strange illnesses in one small California town.

    Those questions helped reveal one of America’s most famous pollution scandals.

    Now she is asking what the AI boom may be doing to thousands of communities across the country.

    Reply