Will Power Shortage Kill AI?!

Microsoft signed a deal to help restart a nuclear reactor. What does that tell us about the race to build AI? Behind the chips are power lines, construction schedules, long-term commitments—and a difficult question: who pays if the future arrives differently than expected? This Ember Horizon documentary follows the physical and economic decisions behind AI’s expansion, from the proposed Crane restart to grid construction, demand forecasts and more flexible computing. CHAPTERS 00:00 Microsoft’s unexpected power deal 01:19 Getting electricity to the building 03:18 Building before demand is certain 04:38 What a nuclear agreement actually means 05:47 Who carries the risk? 07:30 Can computing adapt to the grid? 09:17 The physical future of AI SOURCES Constellation — Crane restart agreement: https://www.constellationenergy.com/n... NRC — Crane potential restart and regulatory status: https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/react... IEA — Energy and AI (2025): https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-an... PJM — 2026 Load Forecast Supplement: https://www.pjm.com/-/media/DotCom/pl... Virginia SCC — Golden–Mars project: https://www.scc.virginia.gov/media/sc... Virginia SCC — Data Center Initiatives: https://www.scc.virginia.gov/media/sc... Google — Demand response in data centers: https://cloud.google.com/blog/product... VISUAL CREDITS “Three Mile Island 042018” — PLBthetoonist (2018), CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped and animated; adapted photographic material under the same license: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Keystone Powerhouse generator maintenance (2020): Preston Chasteen / USACE Tulsa District, public domain time-lapse excerpt: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/776805... The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission — historical Three Mile Island photograph, CC BY 2.0; cropped and animated: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nrcgov/... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Additional NRC file photograph and inspection-report material: U.S. NRC. Vahurzpu — AWS servers in Ashburn, group 1, 2020-10-09 5, CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped and animated. This image adaptation remains available under CC BY-SA 4.0: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... IEA — Energy and AI (2025), text and data adapted under CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Transmission-line work: Western Area Power Administration, Flatiron–Valley line upgrade: https://www.wapa.gov/flatiron-valley-... Circuit-breaker footage: John Switzer / Fort Carson Public Affairs, U.S. Army: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/882844... Puerto Rico restoration footage: Sarah Bennett / U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: https://www.dvidshub.net/video/589388... Additional licensed footage: Pexels contributors, including Amar Preciado (steel building construction) and MrColo (computer hardware). NASA computing photograph: Matt Lepp, Derek Shaw and Marco Librero / NASA Ames. https://www.nas.nasa.gov/pubs/stories... NASA Aitken cooling photograph: NASA / Dominic Hart. https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-faci... Original diagrams draw on the factual sources listed above. Attribution does not imply endorsement. Ember Horizon — stories about the technologies reshaping our world, and the companies, money and people behind them. Business inquiries: mberanek@emberonix.com