AI is exhausting the power grid. Tech firms are seeking a miracle solution

Helion chief executive David Kirtley. (Image: Chona Kasinger for The Washington Post)

Sat, 29 Jun 2024

By Evan Halper and Caroline O'DonovanThe mighty Columbia River has helped power the American West with hydroelectricity since the days of President Franklin D Roosevelt's New Deal. But the artificial intelligence revolution will demand more. Much more.So near the river’s banks in central Washington state, Microsoft is betting on an effort to generate power from atomic fusion – the collision of atoms that powers the sun – a breakthrough that has eluded scientists for the past century. Physicists predict it will elude Mi...

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