Elon Musk Warns AI Growth Risks US Power Shortages by 2026

Elon Musk has warned that artificial intelligence development could face significant power generation shortages by mid to late 2026, as AI data centers demand increasingly large amounts of electricity. Musk’s AI startup, xAI, is constructing a gigawatt-scale data center called Colossus outside Memphis, Tennessee, which will require power equivalent to a typical U.S. nuclear plant, mainly supplied by natural gas turbines. While chip and transformer shortages are being addressed, Musk emphasized that electricity generation capacity will become the fundamental bottleneck for AI expansion. Environmental groups have criticized xAI’s use of natural gas turbines for potentially violating pollution regulations, highlighting concerns about the environmental impact of AI’s growing energy needs. Industry experts, including Google's energy leaders, have similarly cautioned that the U.S. power grid may struggle to keep pace with AI’s rapid growth, especially compared to China’s accelerated power generation development. These warnings underscore the complex intersection of AI innovation, energy infrastructure limitations, and environmental challenges.