But China has now raced far beyond the flirtation stage. It's rolling out fleets of autonomous delivery trucks, experimenting with flying cars and installing parking lot robots that can swap out your E.V.'s dying battery in just minutes. There are drones that deliver lunch by lowering it from the sky on a cable. If all that sounds futuristic and perhaps bizarre, it also shows China's ambition to dominate clean energy technologies of all kinds,
More than 1,000 Amazon employees have signed an open letter expressing serious concerns about AI development, saying that the company's all-costs justified, warp speed approach to the powerful technology will cause damage to democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth. The letter, published on Wednesday, was signed by the Amazon workers anonymously, and comes a month after Amazon announced mass layoff plans as it increases adoption of AI in its operations.
PETER LEYDEN: We're living in an extraordinary moment in history. We are at a moment here in 2025 where we have world historic game-changing technologies now starting to scale. Artificial intelligence, clean energy technologies, bioengineering, all here. We're at the cusp of a potentially a great era of progress. But America and the world itself are going through huge contortions. Old systems of the past are collapsing, and new systems of the future are still to be born.
Suleyman identifies three areas where humanist superintelligence could have a transformative impact. The first is the personal AI companion, designed to assist people in their learning, productivity and well-being, without replacing human connection. The second is medical superintelligence, capable of delivering expert-level diagnostics and treatment, expanding global access to healthcare. And the third, clean and abundant energy, where AI would facilitate scientific discovery, resource optimization and development of sustainable generation technologies.
The attorneys general of more than a dozen states on Thursday sued the Trump administration over the termination of $7 billion in funding intended for affordable solar energy projects across the U.S. The coalition, which also included the District of Columbia and other stakeholders, argued in the lawsuit that the Environmental Protection Agency's cancellation of the Solar for All program violated the law governing federal agencies and the constitutional separation of powers.
Aerospace engineer KR Sridhar always dreamed big: He used to work with NASA on technology to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen to support life on other planets or let humans breathe air on Mars. But as the Soviet Union fell and the space race slowed, Sridhar pivoted to providing clean energy technology for the rising global middle class. He cofounded Ion America in 2001-renamed Bloom Energy five years later-with a focus on fuel cells that deliver cleaner, on-site, off-grid power.
There's been a lot going on and we almost forget that the federal government is approaching its third week of shutdown. The administration has used the time to cancel and pause billions in grants in the places you might guess. Tony Romm and Lazaro Gamio for the New York Times have the analysis.
Six years after Donald Trump allegedly wrote a suggestive birthday note to Jeffrey Epstein, the current US president put his name to something that now seems almost as shocking: a letter calling for action on the climate crisis. In 2009 Trump, then a real estate developer and reality TV personality, was among a group of business leaders behind a full-page advertisement in the New York Times calling for legislation to control climate change, an immediate challenge facing the United States and the world today.
Google has unveiled plans to invest an additional £5 billion in the UK over the next two years, in a move it says will help expand the country's artificial intelligence economy, create thousands of jobs and accelerate breakthroughs in science and technology. The announcement coincides with the state visit of US President Donald Trump, during which major technology and energy deals are expected to dominate the agenda. The investment will include significant spending on Google's infrastructure, research and engineering teams, as well as support for Google DeepMind, its London-based AI arm. The company said the expansion would generate 8,250 " new AI-driven jobs " in Britain.
"News of higher bills will not be welcomed by households, especially as winter approaches. While the added costs behind this forecasted rise are aimed at supporting those most in need, it does mean typical bills will increase despite relatively lower wholesale costs. It's a reminder that the price cap reflects more than just the market price of energy."
Global electricity demand is growing by 4 percent annually, with significant contributions from AI-driven data centers. Equinix is securing future power through agreements with multiple nuclear companies.
New York State is allocating an additional $200 million to expand its electric school bus program, aimed at increasing the transition to zero-emission vehicles.
Google has agreed to secure up to 3GW of US hydropower through a $3 billion deal with Brookfield Asset Management, the largest corporate clean power pact for hydroelectricity. This includes 20-year power purchase agreements for electricity from two Pennsylvania facilities.
