Trump AI Move Could Be Coal Comeback
President Trump will host a meeting about AI and energy. He is expected to offer strong support for AI. He is also likely to make coal a significant tool to grow the industry in the US. He will argue that he has no other alternative. Since his support of wind and solar power has dropped, it could be true.
Semafor believes the guest list is a hint about Trump’s plans. The head of every major oil company has been invited to attend. The challenge is that, even with coal, AI server farms will be short on energy generation. And then, there is a very weak US grid. There has to be a compromise somewhere, if the major tech companies cannot find a source of electricity that can grow at light speed.
Who Gets The Electricity?
The reason for the meeting’s outcome is urgent because tech companies have committed tens of billions of dollars each to developing electricity sources. These include companies that have access to that capital, such as Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, OpenAI, and Elon Musk’s xAI. There is a large tier of companies with slightly less capital available. Taken together, the sum for buildouts is at least a trillion dollars.
The tension between energy needs and energy surplus has been ongoing for some time. What has not been mentioned much is that the US has hundreds of millions of residential consumers and millions of non-AI companies. Someone is going to get less than they want.
