![\"Illustration:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/8b768b251a92ed4e81d8b7585fbc5a10.jpeg\")
Illustration: Sarah Grillo\/Axios. Stock: Getty Images <\/p>\n Illustration: Sarah Grillo\/Axios. Stock: Getty Images <\/p>\n
The AI boom is pushing companies across the economy \u2014 from tech giants to automakers \u2014 deep into the energy business.<\/p>\n
Why it matters: The scramble for electricity has become the gold rush beneath the AI boom, creating enormous financial value and enormous risk if demand falls short.<\/p>\n
Driving the news: Electricity \u2014 long treated as a cheap, abundant commodity \u2014 is suddenly emerging as one of the most valuable strategic assets in business.<\/p>\n
“Everyone to some extent is either dependent on energy as a core input or they see energy as a huge opportunity,” said Brian Janous, who was Microsoft’s first energy hire 15 years ago and is now co-founder of data center developer Cloverleaf Infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The latest: Ford unveiled earlier this month<\/a> its expansion into<\/a> energy storage for data centers and other large power users.<\/p>\n Follow the money: Investors are increasingly rewarding companies pivoting to \u2014 or doubling down on \u2014 the power behind the AI boom. A few recent highlights:<\/p>\n Ford’s stock price rose<\/a> to its highest level in three years after its rollout of the $2 billion energy business.<\/p>\n Bloom Energy, long seen as a niche energy player whose tech can deliver on-site power fast<\/a>, saw its\u00a0stock price skyrocket more than 1,200%<\/a> over the past year.<\/p>\n Fervo Energy, a geothermal startup once viewed as speculative climate tech, surged after going public earlier this month<\/a> as Wall Street hunts for new electricity sources to feed data centers.<\/p>\n GE Vernova booked $2.4 billion<\/a> in electric equipment orders for data centers in the first quarter alone, more than it made all of last year in equivalent sales. Its stock has gone up about 60% this year.<\/p>\n “The energy behind the [artificial] intelligence is invisible to most people, but it’s enormous,” said Andy Power, president and CEO of Digital Realty, one of the world’s largest and most established data center companies.<\/p>\n “But this isn’t new for those of us who’ve been building digital infrastructure for more than 20 years,” Power said in a statement to Axios. “What’s new is the pace. Utilities are inundated with applications for power and doing triage on who’s real.”<\/p>\n Reality check: Beneath the surging stock prices, trouble is mounting. Opposition to data centers is intensifying rapidly, and some of the biggest projects may never come to fruition.<\/p>\n “A lot of people are going to lose a lot of money in this space,” Janous said \u2014 not because of a lack of demand, but because so many mega projects are chasing that demand.<\/p>\n He pointed to a troubled project<\/a> in Texas that bills itself as the largest data center proposal in the world and another<\/a> proposal in Utah by celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary.<\/p>\n Friction point: The number of data centers canceled after pushback reached a record high in the first quarter of this year, according to data by Heatmap Pro<\/a>.<\/p>\n The canceled projects accounted for more than $40 billion in investment, the analysis found.<\/p>\n “It’s getting a lot worse,” Janous said about the opposition, sounding far more negative than he did in an Axios interview<\/a> from February. He cited community concerns about water use, air pollution and noise as top worries.<\/p>\n Between the lines: Every gold rush creates problems \u2014 and new businesses. The AI power boom is now spawning a generation of startups building products for data centers, some of which could help address community concerns.<\/p>\n How it works: Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta are teaming up<\/a> with nonprofit investor Elemental Impact to accelerate new technologies using data centers as test cases.<\/p>\n What we’re watching: If these startups scale, some could help address concerns surrounding data centers, particularly around water use and air pollution.<\/p>\n The bottom line: For decades, energy was an input. In the AI era, it’s becoming the product.<\/p>\n