Musk warns that AI may face power shortages by mid-2026

According to CNBC, Musk stated that as the scale of AI data centers continues to expand, it is expected that there may be a shortage of electricity production capacity from mid-2026 to the end of the year. He revealed that his subsidiary xAI is building a gigawatt level data center in Memphis, Tennessee, which is equivalent to the production capacity of a nuclear power plant. In addition, he pointed out that the development of AI is limited by three major bottlenecks: chips, transformers, and power supply. At present, the data center is powered by natural gas turbines, which has sparked criticism from environmental groups for not obtaining emission permits. He also claimed that China's power construction speed far exceeds that of the United States, describing "China's power generation growth as rocket like, while the United States is basically flat".