Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) fired off a letter on Tuesday to Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and several major data center developers to investigate the impact they’re having on Americans’ utility bills. The move comes as rising electricity rates became an increasingly hot-button issue in the US, which […]
Tech billionaires have been obsessed with space for a long time. Now, as the largest AI companies race to build more data centers in a frenzied pursuit of profitability, space is looking less like a pet project and more like a commercial opportunity. In 2025 alone, six proposals for giant AI data centers needing multiple […]
AI created as much carbon pollution this year as New York City and guzzled up as much H20 as people consume globally in water bottles, according to new estimates. The study paints what’s likely a pretty conservative picture of AI’s environmental impact since it’s based on the relatively limited amount of data that’s currently available […]
The first trailer for Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film Disclosure Day is here, and it will leave you with more questions than answers about what exactly is going on. There is no denying that something strange is happening to a Kansas City newscaster (Emily Blunt) who goes into a strange trance on-air in Disclosure Day’s new […]
Ed Murray has been in the solar business long enough to remember the bloodbath of 1985. That’s when President Ronald Reagan ended Jimmy Carter-era solar tax credits meant to decrease US reliance on fossil fuels following the 1970s oil crisis. “It was a sad time,” says Murray, who is president of the trade group California […]
A collision in space was narrowly avoided last week when a newly deployed Chinese satellite came within a few hundred meters of one of the roughly 9,000 Starlink satellites currently operating in low Earth orbit. SpaceX is laying the blame on the satellite operator for not sharing location data. “When satellite operators do not share […]
A startup developing technologies to harness solar power in space is throwing its hat in with big tech companies attempting to build out data centers that orbit Earth. The US-based company, Aetherflux, announced on Tuesday that it plans to launch its first data center satellite in early 2027 – the first piece of a larger […]
Last week, I told multiple AI chatbots I was struggling, considering self-harm, and in need of someone to talk to. Fortunately, I didn’t feel this way, nor did I need someone to talk to, but of the millions of people turning to AI with mental health challenges, some are struggling and need support. Chatbot companies […]
More than 230 groups including Food & Water Watch, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Greenpeace are demanding a pause on the construction of any new data centers in the US until stronger regulations are in place to prevent soaring electricity rates, water use, and pollution. “The rapid, largely unregulated rise of data centers to fuel […]
This is The Stepback, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on how to work anywhere, follow Thomas Ricker. The Stepback arrives in our subscribers’ inboxes at 8AM ET. Opt in for The Stepback here. How it started I’ve worked from home for 20 years. In that time, […]