My sense is that Amazon has a ton of leverage here and could take this opportunity to make the business case for renewables, batteries and grid flexibility as the fastest and cheapest way to meet gov't computing needs. It should listen its employees on this one.

That said, Amazon says its investment "directly supports the priorities outlined in the Administration's AI Action Plan." That plan pledges to "reject radical climate dogma" & prioritize "dispatchable" (i.e., fossil fuel) power sources.

Will the Trump administration buy from Amazon if it argues that its ability to deliver these services depends on the "speed to power" advantages of renewable energy, batteries and demand flexibility? It has critical security needs that arguably only Amazon can meet..

Meant to say "don't match the reality..."

"Stock investors, already nervous about the sky-high valuations of AI businesses, have taken note of the weakness in the bond market. Meanwhile, the cost of insuring those bonds using credit-default swaps also has climbed, with negative sentiments from different groups.. feeding into each other."

The tech bros aren't helping Trump with this, are they. They promise the corporate CEOs that AI tech will help them cut all the jobs, as if the workers aren't listening. Most ignore the plight of workers, except Elon, whose plan for poverty alleviation is (not kidding here) Tesla's humanoid robots.

Fair question. I don't know, but I imagine any comparisons with IC technology would require addressing the enormous number and variety of electronic devices (use cases), each of which had their own business & investment stories.

Finally, unlike in the 1990s, when the bubble was an equity story, today's AI bubble rests on private credit. The literature on financial crises shows that asset bubbles threaten the macroeconomy mainly when they're credit-fueled, with devaluations cascading into banks’ balance sheets and beyond.

Second, higher gov't deficits and interest rates are leaving less room for maneuvering with both private and public investments. This means "more dollars going to bondholders, and fewer to Social Security, health care, and core services."

Piedmont Environment Council had a photo contest, the work of these finalists gives us a sense of the incredible natural beauty at risk. www.flickr.com/photos/pecph...

The partisan divide has grown, too. The wealthiest 100 tended to give more to Republicans than to Democrats before last year. But giving to the GOP spiked in 2024, with *84%* of donations going to back Republicans or conservative PACs.

Meant to tag @benkeys.bsky.social, who led this important study.

What "people in Washington" are openly talking about: permitting reform. Exxon, Meta & the rest of the AI Infrastructure Coalition are making clear what they hope to gain, and for communities to lose, in the battle for control over water & other natural resources.