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So, let’s say you’re building a massive, billion-dollar AI empire, but when you call the power company to plug in your data centers, they tell you the waitlist is seven years long.
What do you do? Wait around? Absolutely not.
If you’re Big Tech, you go out, buy retired airplane jet engines, strip them down, rebuild them to burn natural gas, and start cranking out your own electricity on site.
Yes, really. Jet-powered AI is officially a thing.
Here’s the juicy reality behind the latest scramble to keep the AI machine running:
The Grid is Stalled: Waiting for a standard 100-megawatt grid connection in high-demand areas like Northern Virginia takes roughly seven years, according to the International Energy Agency. Major equipment makers like Mitsubishi Power do not expect real capacity relief until 2031.
Waiting Costs Billions: Delays are actively tanking massive deals. Just last month, Microsoft backed out as the anchor customer for Nscale’s Loughton campus in England after the local utility admitted it could not supply enough power until the mid-2030s.
The 24-Month Loophole: Bringing in converted jet units gets a data center fully operational in just 24 months, per energy analysts at Rystad Energy. When speed is everything, two years beats seven every single time.
Who is actually doing this wild setup?
Elon Musk’s xAI installed eight converted jet-engine turbines in Mississippi to fuel its massive Colossus 2 project in Memphis. The hardware comes from ProEnergy, which repurposes classic GE engines originally built for Boeing aircraft.
OpenAI and Crusoe teamed up in Abilene, Texas, running gas turbines for the first Stargate site. Crusoe even ordered 13 ProEnergy units earlier this year to keep pace.
Boom Supersonic (yes, the supersonic jet startup) started pitching its airplane engines as mini power plants for data centers. Crusoe almost dropped $1.25 billion for 29 of their turbines before walking away from the deal in September, though Crusoe still plans on using turbine power overall.
Political Tailwinds: The Trump administration is doubling down on this trend, actively pushing data center operators to set up off-grid, self-generated power.
The catch? It’s dirty, loud, and expensive.
Converted aircraft engines are way less efficient and significantly dirtier than purpose-built, traditional natural gas power plants. You need a lot more of them to hit the same wattage, making this a messy, short-term patch. Industry experts warn that environmental pushback and high operational costs will catch up with these setups in a year or two.
For now? Big Tech does not care. They would rather burn jet fuel on the ground than watch their AI ambitions sit in line.
Curious? Take a look at the full report to understand this better.
Here’s your usual breakdown in visuals.
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🤦♂️ Google’s New Ultimatum to Schools: Enable AI or Lose Search Completely
It’s no news that Google has spent the last few years dumping billions of dollars into AI, desperately trying to prove to everyone that all that cash was worth it. And now, they’re playing hardball.
In a plot twist nobody asked for, tech giant executives just handed K-12 schools a wild ultimatum: turn on our AI features, or your students lose access to Google Search entirely.
Yes, you read that right. Google is essentially holding student web searches hostage.
Let’s break down the messy timeline here. In a handful of education blog posts dropping on a Tuesday, Chris Phillips, Google's vice president and general manager for education, tried to frame this power move as a listening exercise.
According to him: "After listening to schools, teachers, leading researchers and policymakers, we are now updating our approach to controls for Gemini, Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Classroom and Google Search."
Get this: Back in August, Google quietly turned on certain AI features by default inside the Classroom learning platform. Predictably, educators threw an absolute fit over it. The backlash got so loud it forced Google into a frantic retreat.
Now, Google is giving school administrators individual controls over these products, but there’s a major catch. Phillips spilled to reporters that Search and AI are now completely fused together.
If a school district decides to ban AI tools to protect their students, those kids will lose access to Google Search completely. Instead of a search results page, they’ll just stare at a blank screen and a sad little message from their school saying it’s unavailable.
And since Chromebooks and Google education apps practically run the K-12 world, especially in the U.S., school districts are in an impossible spot. They have two choices:
Bow down to Big Tech and let AI take over the hallways.
Go rogue and scramble to find alternative search engines, new laptops, and entirely different digital learning platforms.
How are People Reacting to This News?
Well, the internet is naturally losing its absolute mind over this power trip. Social media feeds are completely flooded with angry commentary, and everyday users are screaming at school districts to stand their ground. The prevailing crowd advice? Ditch Google entirely.
Tech commentators are loudly encouraging schools to pivot to alternative privacy focused search engines like DuckDuckGo and other independent platforms. If school districts actually listen to the noise and make the mass exodus, Google might have just shot themselves squarely in the foot and handed a massive, silver-platter victory straight to their rivals.
Talk about a catastrophic backfire.
To make matters even more chaotic, schools are already pushing back hard against generative AI.
New York City slapped a strict one-year moratorium on AI tools in public schools for students up through the eighth grade.
Los Angeles enacted a near-identical ban around the exact same time.
New York State governor Kathy Hochul signed a brand-new law blocking AI companies from pushing certain chatbot features onto minors altogether.
And guess what?
In districts that actually allow AI, Google is rolling out a brand-new feature called Guided Learning to keep everyone in line. Instead of just handing lazy students the answers to their homework assignments, this tool breaks complex problems down into bite-sized, step-by-step explanations with built-in quizzes.
Think of it as a strict digital tutor standing over your shoulder. Google claims it’s designed to stop rampant cheating.
For Physics Problems: Students get helpful prompts that make them think critically instead of getting the solution handed to them.
For Book Reports: The chatbot guides the writing process without actually typing out the essay.
For Teachers: Educators get full access to chat transcripts so they can catch sneaky students red-handed.
Google is launching a test run in select U.S. schools this month before unleashing it everywhere.
So grab your iced latte and stay tuned, because this tech-versus-classroom showdown is only just getting started. You can learn more here.
PS: Don’t forget, we’re back on YouTube, so stop by later for a more robust breakdown and follow up news on this later today.
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🧱 Around The AI Block
👍 Apple Watch’s AI features for rewinding and recapping conversations begin beta testing.
⏹️ CrowdStrike ships AI kill Switch to stop rogue agents.
😱 UK’s most polluting power plant could power country’s largest AI datacentre.
🤔 Anthropic is working on a system to prove AI models’ identity.
⚠️ Apple flags new AI agent risks in annual filing.
😮💨 U.S. tech stocks recover after selloff spooks investors over AI spending.
🤯 U.S. lawmakers, in letter, question McDonald’s CEO about algorithmic pricing practices.
😩 OpenAI employees warned about operational security lapses for years, sources say.
😱 Hackers behind $6.3bn Binance heist used malware, AI, Deepfakes and bogus job interviews.
😳 AI ‘godfather’ Geoffrey Hinton: it might turn out we were better off without AI.
🛠️ Trending Tools
For the Analysts: Signal87 AI uses document intelligence to organize, search, and extract deep insights from your messy PDFs and docs, turning "lost data" into actionable info.
For the Social Managers: PostSyncer is the ultimate "post once, share everywhere" hub. It manages all your accounts, schedules content, and even features built-in AI for generating videos and images so you can keep your feed active on autopilot.
For the Researchers: NotebookLM Watermark Remover – If you love Google’s NotebookLM but hate the branding on your exported PDFs, this tool is a lifesaver. It securely strips watermarks so your research looks polished and professional for meetings or clients.
🤖 AI Workout Of The Day: The “Assumption Flush” Trick
Most bad AI outputs come from one thing: unspoken assumptions. The model fills in gaps you didn’t even know were gaps… and boom, wrong direction.
The right move? Force the AI to surface its assumptions before doing the work. This way, you get to approve, tweak, or nuke them before it commits.
This is insanely useful for strategy, writing, planning, and anything where context matters.
💡 Prompts to Try:
Before completing this task, do the following:
1. List the key assumptions you are making about my goal, audience, constraints, and desired outcome.
2. Flag any areas where missing information could change the result.
3. Ask clarifying questions ONLY if absolutely necessary.
Once assumptions are listed, proceed using the most reasonable interpretation and clearly state which assumptions you are operating under.
Task: [Insert your actual request here]Is this your AI Workout of the Week (WoW)? Cast your vote!
That's all we've got for you today.
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