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Energy-hungry AI poses challenge for House Energy and Commerce

15 February 2025 at 07:59

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee want to power AI with fossil fuels and nuclear energy โ€” but divergent Democrats mean the panel might struggle to do much.

Why it matters: AI's rise has prompted fears across the tech and energy industries about energy shortages and spikes in climate-warming emissions.


  • Democrats on the powerful committee, such as Reps. Kathy Castor of Florida and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, would very much like to jump-start the AI revolution with zero-carbon power.
  • But Republican members like Robert Latta and Troy Balderson of Ohio and Julie Fedorchak of North Dakota counter that coal, oil and natural gas are more than up to the task.

The big picture: Energy and Commerce Chair Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) sees AI as a marquee issue for Republicans โ€” and for President Trump.

  • "If we don't control the platform, China will. And you can't do it without energy," he told Axios.
  • "Nuclear is baseload power with zero carbon, but we also have to look at natural gas; we have to look at coal."

Driving the news: Latta will be central to this push from atop the panel's Energy Subcommittee.

  • He tells us he's looking to discuss AI's power suck in a hearing in the next month or so: "That's massive for everything we'll be doing."
  • That includes how and where the power needed for data centers is produced and how to build out the power lines to get it there.

Zoom in: Energy and Commerce has undergone something of an energy policy brain drain in recent years with retirements and electoral churn. But Latta is an old hand on the committee and a longtime nuclear energy booster.

  • Republicans added freshman Fedorchak โ€” a former North Dakota utility regulator โ€” to their roster this year.
  • Also worth watching is Balderson, who introduced a bill last week that encapsulates what Republicans would like to do on this issue: Prioritize fossil fuels and nuclear over wind and solar for connection to the power grid.

The other side: Democrats have little faith the committee can work in a bipartisan manner.

  • "There's so much chaos," energy subcommittee ranking member Castor said. "There are energy projects across the spectrum right now about to go under because of the halt on funding, and I'm not hearing anything from Republicans."
  • When Democrats controlled the House, Castor chaired the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, which issued a 2020 plan calling for more investment in renewables.

Between the lines: Still, Castor said nuclear, particularly advanced reactor technology, could be an area for collaboration.

  • It's appealing because it's low-carbon and can produce power 24/7 โ€” while wind and solar are dependent on the weather if not paired with battery storage.

There's also broad agreement on one of the central concerns about the AI revolution: the cost to consumers.

  • As Guthrie put it when discussing a massive Microsoft data center, "You're going to bring that onto a grid, and it's going to raise the price for everybody else โ€” if we don't produce."

What we're watching: Ocasio-Cortez is new on the committee and sits on the energy panel.

  • Her vast social media platform โ€” she has nearly 13 million followers on X, and her TikToks and Instagram live broadcasts are widely viewed โ€” plus her high-profile Green New Deal efforts could make her a loud voice in the data-center debate.
  • "It's something, of course, that we're paying close attention to, particularly the efficiency of this sector," she told Axios.

If you want to get smarter about what's happening on energy, technology or health care policy, subscribe to Axios Pro.

Scale AI CEO Wang to meet with lawmakers, administration officials

4 February 2025 at 02:30

Scale AI CEO and founder Alexandr Wang is heading to Washington Tuesday and Wednesday for meetings with lawmakers and Trump administration officials to discuss China's AI threat to America, sources confirmed to Axios.

Why it matters: Wang made global headlines last month when he said DeepSeek, an open-source AI model that was built with barely any capital, showed that China has caught up with the U.S. in AI.


  • Scale AI provides enterprise AI products for private companies and the government. The company recently took out an ad in The Washington Post that featured an open letter to President Trump saying "America must win the AI War."
  • Scale AI did not respond to a request for comment.

Zoom in: Wang is in town to discuss AI's contributions to American job growth and how the U.S. can win the AI competition against China.

The big picture: Wang is the latest in a string of CEOs from major tech companies to pay court to the new administration.

  • OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was in D.C. last week to unveil new technology to a crowd of lawmakers and administration officials.

Scoop: Sam Altman to unveil new tech to D.C. power players

30 January 2025 at 03:00

OpenAI's Sam Altman is making the rounds in D.C. on Thursday in an attempt to show unity with President Trump and announce a new initiative to make sure the government has the most capable AI.

Why it matters: Tech companies see an opportunity in the new Trump administration to shape AI policy.


Driving the news: Altman is in D.C. to give lawmakers, their staff, White House personnel and federal agency officials a first look at new technology, a source familiar told Axios.

  • Infrastructure investors and advocates will also see the tech before it's released publicly.

Behind the scenes: Altman and OpenAI's Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil will preview new AI capabilities coming in Q1 and focus on how those capabilities will support science, education, health and government services.

  • This is the second week in a row Altman is in D.C. after attending Trump's inauguration and announcing Stargate โ€” a partnership among companies including OpenAI to invest billions in AI development.

Trump issues executive order to save TikTok

20 January 2025 at 17:40

President Trump on Monday issued an executive order that would direct the attorney general not to enforce a ban on TikTok for 75 days.

Why it matters: In one of his first actions in office, Trump is prioritizing saving a platform that he says has been friendly to him.


What's inside: During the 75 days, the Department of Justice is directed to take no action to enforce the law or impose any penalties against any entity for any noncompliance with the law, the executive order says.

What they're saying: Speaking in the Oval Office Monday night, Trump said a deal where the U.S. gets half of TikTok and TikTok keeps the other half is "one of many ideas."

  • "If I do the deal for the United States, then I think we should get half. I think the U.S. should be entitled to get half of TikTok and congratulations, TikTok has a good partner."
  • "Every rich person has called me about TikTok," Trump said when asked if a private company would be involved.
  • If China does not approve the deal "it would be somewhat of a hostile act," Trump said, adding that his administration could impose tariffs on China if the country got in the way of a "good deal."

For Trump to satisfy a qualified divestiture under the law, he would have to consult with government agencies and determine TikTok is no longer controlled by China.

  • That means making sure it's impossible for China to still control TikTok's algorithm or data sharing.
  • The law explicitly bars Trump from allowing a Chinese entity to continue being involved with TikTok, even through an agreement with a U.S. company.
  • The law also states that Trump would need to certify to Congress not only that there's been "significant progress" toward executing a qualified divestiture, but there are "binding legal agreements" in place to enable the sale during the extension period.

Catch up quick: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to block the law to ban TikTok.

  • The executive order follows a rollercoaster of a weekend where CEO Shou Zi Chew chose to make TikTok go dark and then reinstated it the following day, crediting Trump.
  • None of TikTok's actions were necessary under the law, which instead only required Google, Apple, and other web hosting services to stop carrying the app.

If you need smart, quick intel on federal tech policy for your job, get Axios Pro Policy.

TikTok goes dark and disappears from app stores

18 January 2025 at 20:33

TIkTok's 170 million users started receiving a "services temporarily unavailable" notice late Saturday night and the app was no longer available in Google and Apple's app stores as a law to ban the app was set to take official effect at midnight.

Why it matters: It's the first time the U.S. has banned a major online platform of this scale.


Between the lines: In declining to enforce the ban during his last day in office, President Biden essentially shifted the responsibility for enforcing the law to incoming President Trump.

  • Trump has indicated that he will try to keep TikTok alive in the U.S., but facing hefty fines, Google and Apple likely chose not to take the risk of violating the law.

What they're saying: Apple said it is "obligated to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates" and listed 11 other ByteDance apps that will also not be available โ€” including Lemon8, which some TikTok users had been flocking to.

  • Google declined to comment.

Catch up quick: For app store operators and cloud-services vendors like Oracle, which runs the backend for TikTok in the U.S., the ban story has proven complicated.

  • Although the Supreme Court upheld the ban Friday, lawmakers have been split on whether they should try to find a way to extend the ban's deadline or keep TikTok shut out of the U.S. unless it found a U.S. buyer.

What to watch: Trump could decide to extend the deadline by 90 days, but he would have to show that legally binding negotiations for a sale of TikTok to U.S. owners are underway.

  • There are U.S. players who are interested in buying TikTok, but any deal to acquire the app would also face the hurdle of winning China's approval.
  • Trump could also issue an executive order or ask his attorney general not to enforce the law.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional comment from Apple.

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