Committee explores nuclear solutions to AI demand
House Science, Space and Technology Committee lawmakers will meet this week to discuss how nuclear energy could help meet a projected surge in demand from artificial intelligence operations.
The Energy Subcommittee hearing — to be led by Chair Randy Weber (R-Texas) — continues Republicans' early focus and significant concern regarding supply and demand in the 119th Congress. They believe baseload energy sources, such as nuclear and fossil fuels, need to be built at a rapid pace to offset a surge in intermittent, renewable energy generation that could put grid reliability at risk.
Indeed, transmission providers are forecasting an 8.2 percent growth in electricity load over the next five years primarily due to AI data center proliferation. That's equivalent to hooking up nearly 50 million homes to the grid by 2029.
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But whether nuclear energy can actually meet that demand remains a point of debate among energy and policy experts.
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CNN
13 minutes ago
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Social media algorithms boost L.A. protest misinformation in ‘combustible' environment
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(The video, which was debunked by BBC News, appears to have since been taken down.) Get Reliable Sources newsletter Sign up here to receive Reliable Sources with Brian Stelter in your inbox. 'What's happening on social media is similar to the chaos of the information environment around the 2020 George Floyd protests,' said Renée DiResta, an associate research professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy and an expert on how conspiracy theories spread online. 'People are trying to discern between real current footage and recycled sensational old footage repurposed for political or financial ends.' In 2025, though, AI-generated images are more abundant, and users have splintered onto different online platforms 'where different stories are being told,' DiResta told CNN. 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New York Times
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- CNN
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