Musk says artificial intelligence may encounter power generation capacity bottlenecks by the middle of next year

The development of artificial intelligence could hit a power generation capacity bottleneck by the middle of next year as the tech industry builds ever-larger data centers, Musk said Tuesday. Musk said in an interview that his AI startup xAI is planning to build a gigawatt-scale facility near Memphis, Tennessee, which will be completed in six to nine months. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 1 gigawatt is equivalent to the power generation capacity of an average nuclear power plant in the United States. Musk pointed out that artificial intelligence faces three major limitations when it comes to scaling up: chips, transformers and power generation capacity. "When we solve the transformer shortage, we will fundamentally solve the power generation shortage," Musk said. My guess is that maybe by the middle of next year, by the end of next year, people will start to experience challenges in generating electricity. "Google also warned in February that the United States was facing an electricity crisis. Caroline Golin, Google's global head of energy market development, said the company began exploring nuclear applications after realizing that renewable energy could destabilize the grid.