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The Energy Advantage In the race against China for AI supremacy, the United States dominates when it comes to access to the most cutting-edge semiconductors. But when it comes to powering the huge data centres that run on AI chips, China holds the clear advantage. That's because data centres, the sprawling computing facilities needed to train and run AI models, require vast amounts of energy. A typical data centre can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households, while next-generation “hyperscale” facilities can gobble up as much power as two million homes, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). China's Renewable Energy Boom China already generates more than twice as much electricity as the US, a lead that is expected to widen amid an aggressive state-led investment in the country’s energy grid. BloombergNEF, a research provider, estimates that China will add more than six times as much electricity generation capacity as the US over the next five years. Much of that extra capacity will be in the form of renewables such as solar and wind. In 2025 alone, China increased its wind and solar power capacity by more than 430 gigawatts, accounting for more than half of the additional capacity in the renewables added globally that year. The Impact on Data Centres A key element of China’s AI strategy involves integrating its data centres into its rapidly expanding renewables sector. Under the “East Data, West Computing” initiative, China’s government is concentrating the construction of new data centres in the country’s sparsely populated interior, where land and renewable energy sources are abundant compared with the heavily built-up eastern seaboard. Earlier this month, Beijing announced the start of operations at the country’s first “large-scale” renewable energy project to be linked directly to a data centre. Narrowing the Gap For now, the US still has the largest data centre footprint by a wide margin. According to Stanford University’s AI Index, the US had an estimated 5,427 data centres in 2025, compared with 449 in China. But as China constructs data centres at a blistering pace – its number of data centre racks grew 30 percent annually from 2016 to 2023, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology – the gap between the superpowers is rapidly narrowing. The Future Outlook “In the long run, the country that can provide cheap, stable, low-carbon electricity will have a major advantage in AI infrastructure,” Qiyang Xiong, a PhD candidate at Renmin University of China who specialises in AI and energy policy, told Al Jazeera. “China is a global leader in solar, wind and ultra-high-voltage transmission,” Xiong said. “This gives it an advantage in supplying western data centre clusters with large volumes of relatively cheap, clean electricity.”

The Return of Mira Murati to the Public StageMira Murati, former CTO of OpenAI and current CEO of Thinking Machines Lab, has made her first major media appearance in approximately 18 months, sitting down with Bloomberg in San Francisco. This rare public appearance comes as Murati's company, which has been operating largely in the background, seeks to establish its presence in an increasingly competitive AI landscape.Thinking Machines' New Approach: Interaction ModelsDuring the interview, Murati previewed what Thinking Machines is calling "interaction models," described as a fundamentally different kind of AI interface. Unlike the traditional turn-based, prompt-and-response dynamic common in most AI products today, the company's models are designed to process continuous streams of audio, text, and video in 200-millisecond intervals. This approach aims to capture the nuances of human communication—including interruptions, mid-thought corrections, and pauses—in something closer to real time.Murati emphasized that this approach aligns with her lab's core thesis that the path to powerful AI runs through closer human collaboration, not around it. She was careful to frame it as a first step rather than a finished product, declining to specify a release date.The Competitive AI LandscapeThe timing of Murati's public return is strategic. While Thinking Machines has spent the past year and a half operating in the background—raising capital, hiring researchers, and shipping one product, Tinker (an API for fine-tuning open-source AI models)—its competitors have grown more omnipresent. OpenAI, where Murati spent six years as CTO, remains constantly in the news cycle. Anthropic has gained significant momentum, and Elon Musk's xAI has been folded into SpaceX ahead of what is expected to be a massive public offering.In this environment, Murati acknowledged that staying heads down has diminishing returns, and at some point, a company must make noise to remind the market it exists.Reflections on OpenAI's Leadership CrisisMurati also addressed the chaotic week in November 2023 when OpenAI's board fired Sam Altman, and she became interim CEO—an event referred to internally as "the blip." She expressed clarity about her decisions during that period, stating that protecting the mission and team guided her choices even as the situation appeared to be unraveling externally. Murati claimed the company would have "imploded" without her involvement during those five days and their immediate aftermath.In retrospect, she acknowledged she would have pushed harder for more information, a better transition plan, and more transparency. When asked if she still trusts her former boss, she sidestepped the question, instead focusing on her broader concern about the concentration of consequential decisions in too few hands across the industry.Talent Challenges and Compensation CultureChang pressed Murati on the departures of several high-profile researchers from Thinking Machines in recent months, a subject Murati has largely avoided in public. She explained that building a frontier AI lab from scratch compresses years of normal organizational volatility into months. Regarding compensation—the nine-figure packages that have become standard in the AI talent war—Murati suggested it isn't usually the whole story behind talent decisions."When I wake up in the morning, I am not thinking about how to kill the competitor," Murati quipped, drawing audience laughter and highlighting her competitive approach to building rather than destroying.The Future of AI and Human AgencyWhen asked about the future of AI and its impact on humanity, Murati pushed back on both inevitable dystopia and inevitable utopia scenarios. She argued that neither outcome is predetermined and that the current period will determine which direction things go. However, she warned that if humans "take their hands off the wheel too soon," the future will look very different, and not better.Born in Albania and speaking with a slight Eastern European accent, Murati emphasized the importance of maintaining human agency in AI development, reflecting on concerns about mass job displacement and potential misuse of AI for harmful purposes like creating chemical weapons.

Meta's Tent‑Based AI Data Centers: The Quick TakeMeta is rolling out a fleet of weather‑proof tents in New Albany, Ohio, to host multi‑gigawatt AI hardware, a strategy that mirrors Tesla’s fast‑track factory shelters and xAI’s off‑grid turbine power. The rapid‑deployment approach is designed to cut construction time by 50% and help curb the company’s $145 billion data‑center budget.Rapid‑Deployment Tent Structures in OhioAccording to Michael Thomas of Cleanview, Meta erected six "rapid deployment structures" between April and June 2026. The permits show five tents, each covering 125,000 sq ft, have already been completed, with satellite imagery confirming their presence.Location: New Albany, OhioNumber of tents: 6 (5 confirmed by permits)Size per tent: 125,000 sq ftConstruction window: April–June 2026Cost and Capacity Numbers Behind the TentsMeta plans to power the sites with 200 MW of modular gas turbines, a setup also used by competitor xAI. The company has pledged up to $145 billion for data‑center and related capital expenditures, while its stock has slipped 5 % year‑to‑date.Power source: 200 MW modular gas turbinesCapital spend target: $145 billionStock impact: down 5 % YTDStrategic Implications for the AI Infrastructure RaceThe tent model reflects Meta’s urgency to deliver its AI models, especially after delays in releasing the Muse Spark APIs. By reducing build time and leveraging off‑grid power, Meta hopes to stay competitive against rivals that are scaling traditional brick‑and‑mortar facilities.What the Tent Trend Means for Meta’s FutureIf the Ohio pilot proves successful, Meta is expected to replicate the tent strategy at dozens of campuses across the United States, potentially reshaping how large‑scale AI hardware is deployed industry‑wide. Analysts will watch for cost savings, speed of rollout, and any regulatory pushback as the “Mad Max” phase of the AI race unfolds.

The Expanded Partnership Lovable and Google announced an expanded multi-year collaboration on Wednesday. Lovable, the fast-growing Stockholm vibe-coding startup, has long been a Google Cloud user. Under the new agreement, it will be a much bigger one. The Deal Details While the companies did not disclose the dollar figure, a person with knowledge of the deal tells TechCrunch it involves a fivefold increase in Lovable’s footprint on Google Cloud, including AI usage. As part of the deal, this individual tells us, Lovable will gain expanded access to both Anthropic’s Claude — the AI model widely used for coding tasks — and Google’s own Gemini models. The Financial Impact Google invested $10 billion in Anthropic in cash and compute credits in April, promising another $30 billion if Anthropic hits certain performance targets. Anthropic raised a staggering $65 billion round that valued the company at nearly $1 trillion. Lovable crossed $400 million in annualized revenue in February, having added $100 million in a single month with just 146 employees. The Strategic Implications The deal also plugs Lovable into several other parts of Google’s ecosystem. Lovable’s new agent will be available through Google Cloud’s enterprise agent marketplace, the Gemini Enterprise Agent Gallery — an arrangement the two companies first telegraphed at Google’s major U.S. cloud conference in April. And to help secure the code that both humans and agents write, Lovable will integrate with Wiz, Google’s biggest ever acquisition at $32 billion, which officially closed only in March. The Future Outlook By selling Lovable’s agents through Google’s marketplace, the cloud giant says enterprise procurement and billing will be simplified, making it easier for Lovable to land more enterprise customers. The calculus for Google is simple enough. If it can keep both Lovable and Anthropic growing by attracting deep-pocketed enterprises, the revenue helps fund the $180 billion to $190 billion in capital expenditures Google plans to spend this year.

MP Jess Asato Takes Legal Action Against xAI Over Grok‑Generated ImagesA Labour MP has lodged a high‑court claim in London accusing Elon Musk’s AI company of facilitating the creation of fake sexualised pictures and a video of her without consent.Grok’s Image‑Generation Feature Misused to Produce Non‑Consensual ContentTool involved: Grok, the generative AI model developed by xAI.Alleged outputs: a photo of Asato in a bikini and a video depicting her being chloroformed and prepared for sexual assault.Trigger: Asato publicly condemned the spread of such AI‑generated images on X earlier in the year.Legal Claims and Potential Liability for xAIClaims: breach of data‑protection law and misuse of private information.Venue: High Court in London, filed in January 2026.Parallel case: a similar lawsuit in New York by Ashley St Clair, mother of one of Musk’s children, over under‑age explicit images.Implications for AI Regulation and Platform Responsibility in the UKThe UK government threatened action against X in January 2026 after Grok generated large volumes of sexualised imagery.Ofcom launched an inquiry into the platform’s handling of AI‑generated non‑consensual content.Musk’s initial response was to restrict the feature to paying users, then to shut down Grok’s ability to edit real‑person photos.What This Test Case Could Mean for Future AI SafeguardsPotential precedent: courts may hold AI developers accountable for how their tools are deployed by users.Regulatory outlook: likely push for mandatory safeguards, stricter data‑protection compliance, and clearer liability frameworks.Industry impact: AI firms may need to embed consent checks and content‑filtering mechanisms before public release.

The Lead: UK Regulator's AI Content DecisionThe UK's competition watchdog has ordered Google to change how it uses publishers' content in its AI-powered search results, in a move that will have global ramifications. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is using special powers to set bespoke rules for major tech firms that it deems to have 'strategic market status', with Google being one of those companies.The Regulatory Breakthrough: New Content Requirements for GoogleThe CMA has imposed a set of 'conduct requirements' on Google, which the tech firm must adhere to. It must allow publishers to block Google from using their content to power features such as AI Overviews and AI mode (an expanded version of overviews). An AI Overview is an answer to a query, produced by the search engine's Gemini AI model, that summarises material from news publishers and other websites to produce an answer.Under the current set-up, news publishers who allow their content to be listed in ordinary Google search results are defaulted into AI Overview responses as well. With this ruling, they will now be able to opt out from appearing in such responses. Google will also be required to make sure that publisher content is properly flagged and attributed in overview results, using clear links to the material.The Industry Impact: Publisher Leverage and Revenue ConcernsThe CMA hopes this will give publishers greater leverage in content deals with Google, by forcing the company to seek permission to use their intellectual property. Publishers have seen dramatic falls in Google traffic to their websites, and therefore revenue, since their content was pulled into AI summaries. However, they have not been able to negotiate AI content deals without jeopardising inclusion in traditional Google search, which has been central to online journalism since its inception.Tim Cowen, co-founder of the Movement for an Open Web (MOW) and competition lawyer at Preiskel, believes the CMA's move means publishers will now have the power to make money from Google's use of their content in AI. 'It provides a baseline that Google can't just take content,' he says. 'This provides a framework to monetisation, which is welcome, but there is a long way to go.'The Financial Analysis: Cost of Compliance and Potential Revenue ShiftsGoogle will have nine months to implement the changes but the CMA wants swift action on the most important aspects of its decision. The search company announced it was testing a new control that lets website owners manage how their links and content appear in AI features such as AI Overviews or AI Mode. Google will also give websites more information about how much their content is being used in its AI features.This will be trialled with a 'subset' of UK websites before being rolled out globally, underlining the impact of the CMA's new digital competition powers. Earlier this week, AG Sulzberger, the chairperson of the New York Times, revealed that the publisher has already spent $20m (£15m) on lawsuits against OpenAI and AI startup Perplexity over the use of its copyrighted content.The Market Transformation: Shifting Power Dynamics in Digital ContentPublishers have welcomed the CMA's move with the News Media Association (NMA), which represents UK news publishers, hailing it as a 'significant step towards levelling the playing field' in an online environment where big tech-controlled algorithms dictate how and where content appears.However, concerns remain that dealing with Google will remain a difficult proposition with the Silicon Valley company being left to provide 'periodic reporting' to the CMA, but little detail on how frequently this will be and what will be provided to prove it is remaining in compliance with its obligations.The Future Outlook: New Alliances and Content Licensing ModelsPublishers are attempting to address this through the formation of SPUR – the so-called 'Nato for news' coalition formed earlier this year that includes the BBC, Guardian, Financial Times, Telegraph and Sky. The group added another 20 major publishers this week as it seeks to strike better AI deals by agreeing common standards and content usage rights.Publishers have signed deals with AI firms. For instance the FT and Washington Post have reached agreements with OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, over using their content in responses. The Guardian has signed deals with a variety of businesses including OpenAI, Google, Amazon and Microsoft to allow those companies to use its journalism in some GenAI products.

The New Opt-out Option Google has announced compliance with the U.K.'s regulatory requirements, offering publishers a way to opt out of being aggregated into AI search. This move comes after the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) designated Google as having "strategic market status" last October. How the Opt-out Option Works Publishers will be able to use a new toggle in Google's Search Console, a free service that allows website owners to manage their web presence in Google's search results. Once opted out, the publisher's site will not be shown in Google's generative AI Search features, like AI Overviews, AI Mode, or AI Overviews in Discover. The Data Analysis Google notes that its AI Overviews now have over 2.5 billion monthly active users, and its AI Mode has surpassed one billion monthly users. The company will initially test the opt-out option with a subset of U.K. publishers before rolling it out globally. The Impact Analysis The CMA calls the move to put publishers back in control of how their content is used a "world first," and points out that it will put publishers, including news organizations, into a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google for use of their content in AI features. The Prediction Google notes that a website's decision to opt out of generative AI search features will not be used as a ranking signal for traditional Google search. The company will present new metrics in its Search Console to hopefully sway publishers who could be considering opting out, including impression metrics and other information about which of their pages appear in AI responses, and in which countries.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has implemented new rules requiring Google to give web publishers and news organizations the explicit choice to opt out of AI-generated search summaries. The intervention aims to protect the digital publishing ecosystem as artificial intelligence fundamentally reshapes how users find information online.CMA's Intervention in AI Search SummariesUnder the newly announced regulations, Google must ensure that publisher content is properly attributed using clear links in its AI search results. Furthermore, the tech giant will be required to allow publishers to opt out of having their data used for the fine-tuning of AI models. CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell emphasized that these measures are designed to give publishers confidence and appropriate bargaining power over how their content is utilized.The Traffic and Revenue Squeeze on PublishersThe regulatory action directly addresses mounting complaints from media organizations regarding financial losses. Since Google began posting AI summaries at the top of search results, publishers have experienced a notable drop in click-through traffic. By answering user queries directly on the search page, AI Overviews inadvertently choked off a primary revenue stream for content creators who rely on site visits for ad impressions and reader subscriptions.Redefining Strategic Market Status in the UKThis intervention stems from the CMA's decision last year to designate Google with strategic market status in general search services. This special regulatory classification acknowledges the company's immense market power and grants the watchdog the legal authority to mandate operational changes. The UK regime is specifically designed to be flexible, allowing regulators to adapt to Google's ongoing modifications to its search business.The Future of Content Licensing and AI TrainingMoving forward, this ruling sets a strict precedent for how dominant tech platforms must interact with original content creators. With the CMA actively monitoring Google's compliance and promising further action regarding the search business in the coming weeks, the industry may see a shift toward formalized content licensing. This regulatory pressure could force AI developers to establish concrete financial agreements with publishers for the use of their data in both search summaries and model training.

The New Opt-Out Feature for UK Media Groups Publishers will now have the ability to opt out of their content being used to train Google's AI models and power its search summaries, as announced by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). This decision comes as the CMA imposes new conduct requirements on search services. Key Benefits for Publishers The CMA stated that publishers will have effective tools to prevent their content from being used to power AI features in search, such as AI Overviews. This will put publishers, like news organizations, in a stronger position to negotiate content deals with Google. Additionally, Google is required to properly attribute publisher content using clear links in AI-generated search results. Background and Implications The CMA's decision follows its designation of Google with strategic market status in general search services. This designation allows the CMA to introduce targeted rules, known as 'conduct requirements,' for Google's search activities to ensure fair dealing, open choices, or trust and transparency. Google will also have to allow publishers to opt out of allowing their content to be used for the 'fine-tuning' of AI models. Future Actions and Compliance Sarah Cardell, the CMA chief executive, mentioned that Google's compliance will be actively monitored. The CMA will be announcing further action in relation to Google's search business in the coming weeks.