"On another issue, House Republican leaders have an agreement with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and the White House on language for the NDAA that would block states from regulating AI." pic.twitter.com/woiH1l6xHp

— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) December 1, 2025

We are so fvcked. pic.twitter.com/j5yy6ELbpK

— Dr. Clown, PhD (@DrClownPhD) December 11, 2025

Data: Gallup. Chart: Jacque Schrag/Axios Visuals

"AI feels like magic largely because most of us don't understand how it really works, Axios' Amy Harder writes.

That "magic" is actually a giant stack of energy, hardware and software working together so your computer can turn a few typed words into a giant cat sightseeing in Seattle. Let's break it down, working backwards:

Step 8: I use an AI tool like ChatGPT or Gemini to write a prompt for an image of my cat stretching next to Seattle's Space Needle and ... voila!

Step 7: Inside a data center, the image I requested is crunched by powerful chips called GPUs (graphics processing units).

All this computing creates a lot of heat. So data centers need massive cooling systems, which use a lot of electricity.

Step 6: The companies running these AI systems rely on GPUs built mainly by one company, Nvidia.

A GPU is designed to handle huge numbers of small calculations at once, which is exactly what AI needs.

Step 5: Those GPUs sit inside cloud infrastructure that large tech companies own and operate.

These companies provide the software that lets AI systems actually run on all that hardware.

Step 4: Because millions of people are using AI, data centers need vast amounts of electricity.

Global electricity demand from AI-optimized data centers is projected to more than quadruple by 2030.

Step 3: Then there's the world of companies that build and operate the data centers themselves.

Step 2: The data centers from Step 3 need to connect to the electric grid.

Key players, from grid operators to utilities to firms acting as middlemen, help data center builders secure two scarce resources: land and power.

Step 1: It all starts with an original energy source a wind farm, nuclear power or natural gas plant that powers data centers."
Axios

bearister said:

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That "magic" is actually a giant stack of energy, hardware and software working together so your computer can turn a few typed words into a giant cat sightseeing in Seattle.

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# boycotting big baad AI

smh said:

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bearister said:

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That "magic" is actually a giant stack of energy, hardware and software working together so your computer can turn a few typed words into a giant cat sightseeing in Seattle.

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# boycotting big baad AI

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DNA storage capacity is extraordinarily high, with one gram theoretically holding hundreds of exabytes (billions of gigabytes) of data.

AI is coming for you for harvesting.


"I've got eyes on smh. Coordinates have been communicated to Retriever."

bearister said:

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"Analysts point to power-hungry AI data centers as a driver of rising rates, especially in data center hot spots. Data centers consumed about 4% of the nation's total electricity in 2023. The Energy Department estimates it could increase to 12% by 2028."
Axios

First AI will keep us in the dark, and then the robots will make their move.

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Prediction - Cal will be the first program in the nation to have robots attend their games. The Haas of Pain will be full and rocking again. Bearister, your thoughts?

Notre Dame will have the first AI basketball coach….who will rip a referee's head off and FedX it to a data center for DNA harvesting.

The current coach probably beats his wife.

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios

"A new report from Goldman Sachs Research warns: "AI can potentially automate tasks that account for 25% of all work hours in the U.S. This significant exposure has raised concerns around widespread and permanent job loss, sparking fears of a 'job apocalypse' or 'humans going the way of horses.'"

Anthropic revealed this week that one of its AI tools, Claude Code, built a new product, Cowork, which allows others to use AI for workplace tasks normally done by humans creating presentations, summarizing meetings, consolidating research.

You read that right: AI built AI that will displace human work with AI. Use that for a glimpse of what's coming.

Some top tech leaders are talking privately about losing interest in H-1B visas the ones tech companies use to hire top overseas talent. The reason: They now assume AI will do the work.

The Wall Street Journal reports that a hot new San Francisco startup, Mercor, has hired more than 30,000 contractors to recruit specialists, from psychologists to dermatologists, to train AI to do their jobs. The company got a $10 billion valuation for a reason.

Elon Musk, in a new "Moonshots" podcast episode, says AI is good enough today to replace half of white-collar jobs. He also argues it's "pointless" to go to medical school except for "social reasons." Robots, he says, will be doing surgery at scale within three years.

Why it matters: Nothing will determine the future of AI, politics and employment more than if and how fast the new technology destroys good-paying jobs."
Axios