Tags: data centers

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders announced a bill that would place a moratorium on the construction and upgrade of new and existing data centers used for artificial intelligence until legislation safeguards public health, the environment, and AI safety. The proposal targets facilities above a certain energy load and calls for shared wealth from AI, export restrictions on computing hardware, and protections against higher electricity bills. The move follows growing public opposition, state-level moratoriums, and bipartisan concerns over the rapid expansion of data centers. Industry groups argue the moratorium could harm jobs and tax revenue, while progressive groups see it as a necessary check on AI growth. Read more

Gimlet Labs, founded by former Pixie co‑founders including Stanford adjunct professor Zain Asgar, announced an $80 million Series A led by Menlo Ventures. The startup’s “multi‑silicon inference cloud” software lets AI workloads run simultaneously across CPUs, GPUs, and high‑memory systems, promising 3‑to‑10× faster inference at the same cost and power. Partnerships with major chip makers such as NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, ARM, Cerebras and d‑Matrix support the platform, which targets large model labs and data‑center operators. The round brings total funding to $92 million and backs a team of 30 employees. Read more

European utilities are confronting a surge in power‑hungry AI data centers that are straining existing transmission networks. Grid operators such as National Grid and regulators like Ofgem note that traditional infrastructure cannot keep pace with the rapid influx of projects, leading to cancellations and long queues. To address the shortfall, they are testing a suite of grid‑enhancing technologies—including dynamic line rating, line‑bypass methods, and demand‑flexibility schemes—that can extract additional capacity from existing lines without the need for costly new construction. While these tools show promise, regulators stress that substantial new infrastructure will still be required to fully accommodate AI‑driven compute demand. Read more