As Tech Giants Get More Hands-On With Energy, Their Risks Rise
Tech giants are sick of waiting around for electricity. But locking in future power means taking on more upfront risk.The race to build up more AI data centers has created a strain on the existing power grid while also bottlenecking the ambitious plans of the world's largest tech companies. AI systems consume far more energy than more typical servers and other computing gear, but new energy generation facilities don't exactly go up overnight. As a result, companies better known for driving advertising clicks and social network likes are now diving into the power business.Capex on energy projects is nothing to sneeze at: If the company plans to build out the multiple gigawatts of energy in Intersect Power's pipeline, that could represent billions of dollars of investment beyond what it paid for the acquisition. And Alphabet is already spending record amounts on capex to fund its AI build-out, as are its peers. According to estimates from Visible Alpha, Alphabet spent about $91 billion o
