Top 5 US news stories

AI Boom's Thirst for Power Strains Grid, Threatens Higher Electric Bills

Tesla Eyes New York Robotaxi Market, Seeks Test Drivers in Queens

Republican Drinking Plummets, Driving US Alcohol Use to 90-Year Low

PwC Ups Scrutiny of Hybrid Work, With Penalties for Low Office Attendance

Putin Re-engineers Russian Military, Seeks Favorable Peace Deal From Position of Strength

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1. AI Boom's Thirst for Power Strains Grid, Threatens Higher Electric Bills

Just a few years ago, tech companies were minor players in energy, making investments in solar and wind farms to rein in their growing carbon footprints and placate customers concerned about climate change. But now, they are changing the face of the U.S. power industry and blurring the line between energy consumer and energy producer. They have morphed into some of energy’s most dominant players. They have set up subsidiaries that invest in power generation and sell electricity. Much of the energy they produce is bought by utilities and then delivered to homes and businesses, including the tech companies themselves. Their operations and investments dwarf those of many traditional utilities.

But the tech industry’s all-out artificial intelligence push is fueling soaring demand for electricity to run data centers that dot the landscape in Virginia, Ohio and other states. Those large rectangular buildings packed with servers consumed more than 4 percent of the nation’s electricity in 2023, and government analysts estimate that will increase to as much as 12 percent in just three years. That’s partly because computers training and running A.I. systems consume far more energy than machines that stream Netflix or TikTok. Electricity is essential to their success. Andy Jassy, Amazon’s chief executive, recently told investors that the company could have had higher sales if it had more data centers. “The single biggest constraint,” he said, “is power.”

At the same time, the boom threatens to drive up power bills for residents and small businesses. Nationally, the average electricity rate for residents has risen more than 30 percent since 2020, after years of relatively modest increases. Much of that increase has been driven by utilities’ catching up on deferred maintenance and hardening grids for extreme weather. In the coming years, artificial intelligence could turbocharge those increases. It is difficult to predict what that will mean for consumers’ power bills. But recent reports expect data centers will require expensive upgrades to the electric grid, a cost that will be shared with residents and smaller businesses through higher rates unless state regulators and lawmakers force tech companies to cover those expenses. A June analysis, from Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University, found that electricity bills are on track to rise an average of 8 percent nationwide by 2030 and as much as 25 percent in places like Virginia because of data centers.

In the debate over who will foot the bill, the industry’s eyes have been fixed on Ohio. On a snowy day in December, a first-of-its-kind showdown played out in a small hearing room in Columbus. Lawyers for Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other technology companies faced off against representatives of an electric utility. The tech companies had plans for dozens of new data centers, so much that the local utility, American Electric Power, projected it would need six times the electricity central Ohio produced. The utility had spent months meeting with the state’s consumer representative, tech companies and related industries, and the staff of the regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, to hammer out a deal. Last month, after spending months weighing the proposals, the commission ruled 5 to 0 against the tech companies.

NYT

2. Tesla Eyes New York Robotaxi Market, Seeks Test Drivers in Queens

Tesla is taking early steps to bring its robotaxis to New York City just weeks after competitor Waymo announced its own plans to test autonomous vehicles in the Big Apple. In a recent job posting, Tesla said it is hiring data collectors to drive vehicles around the country’s most populous city. The job location is listed as Flushing in the borough of Queens. The company said it was looking for “a highly motivated self-starter” who would work as a “prototype vehicle operator.” Those drivers will collect the audio and video needed to test and train software for the company’s Autopilot team, which makes the technology behind its self-driving vehicle, as well as a less-advanced version available in personal vehicles known as Full Self-Driving (Supervised). The job pays up to $30.60 an hour, and a driver’s license is required. It will likely be a long time before Tesla brings its new Robotaxi app to New York. The company hasn’t applied to test autonomous vehicles in the city, according to a spokesman for the city Transportation Department. While New York City opened a permitting process for autonomous-vehicle operators last year, companies that get permits are required to have a safety driver behind the wheel to take over. Waymo, which announced its interest in the market in June, said it had applied for that permit and is vying to be the first company to start testing. Meanwhile, it is collecting driving data in the city.

WSJ

3. Republican Drinking Plummets, Driving US Alcohol Use to 90-Year Low

Republicans are abstaining from alcohol at record levels, as the nationwide drinking rate of Americans plummets to a nearly 90-year low. The share of US adults who consume any form of alcohol dropped to 54 per cent last month, the lowest level since polling group Gallup began asking the question in 1939, with the most dramatic decrease among self-identified Republicans. Just 46 per cent of Republicans reported drinking this year — a decline of almost a third from 2023. The share of Democrats who drink fell by only 5 per cent over the same period. A majority of adults, and two-thirds of people aged 18 to 34, now agree that drinking in moderation — defined as one or two drinks a day — is bad for health, the data showed. Half of adults aged 18 to 34 do not consume alcohol, up from 41 per cent in 2023. “Americans’ drinking habits are shifting amid the medical world’s reappraisal of alcohol’s health effects,” Gallup said.

FT

4. PwC Ups Scrutiny of Hybrid Work, With Penalties for Low Office Attendance

PwC has stepped up the monitoring of its UK employees’ office attendance with a dashboard that allows senior partners to track pass swipes and WiFi connections, sparking concern from some staff. The increased scrutiny has triggered unease among some staff over how they are tracked, two people at the firm told the Financial Times. One senior staff member said they had “lost count” of the number of colleagues at the accounting and consulting firm who had raised concerns. Another person said employees had sought more transparency as the firm began “pushing hard” to increase attendance. PwC told its UK staff last September that it would monitor their office attendance like it did billable hours and require them to work in the office or at a client site at least three days a week. Staff who breach the policy can face formal sanctions, with their performance evaluations and bonuses potentially affected, according to guidance for staff seen by the FT. Staff show up as “amber” on the dashboard, which went live for supervisors in April, if they dip below 60 per cent office attendance, and “red” if they fall below 40 per cent, according to the guidance.

FT

5. Putin Re-engineers Russian Military, Seeks Favorable Peace Deal From Position of Strength

In the depths of 2022, his underequipped forces were disoriented, decimated and struggling to counter Ukraine’s hit-and-run tactics and precision-guided weapons. Instead of abandoning the invasion, Mr. Putin threw the full strength of the Russian state behind the war, re-engineering the military and the economy with a singular goal of crushing Ukraine. In his push, the country revamped recruitment, weapons production and frontline tactics. This is now a war of attrition favoring Russia, which has mobilized more men and arms than Ukraine and its Western backers. While their casualties are mounting, Russian forces are edging forward across most of the 750-mile front, strengthening Mr. Putin’s resolve to keep fighting until he gets the peace deal he wants. Ukraine and its allies hope to hold out long enough to exhaust Mr. Putin’s forces. In World War I, the German Army had made it within about 40 miles of Paris before it collapsed. The German Empire capitulated and disintegrated months later. There are warning signs for Russia. Its elite infantry units have been wiped out. Its military plants depend on foreign components and dwindling Soviet-era stocks. Its economy shows cracks. Mr. Putin figures that he can manage the wartime pressures longer than Ukraine and can secure a peace deal that would ensure his legacy. He has repeatedly demanded four regions that Moscow has claimed to have annexed and sought a deal that blocks Ukraine from joining NATO and limits the size of its military. If talks with President Trump in Alaska this week don’t lead to such a deal, Mr. Putin has signaled that he is willing to fight on, using force to achieve what diplomacy cannot.

NYT

August 14, 1935: FDR signs Social Security Act

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs into law the Social Security Act on August 14, 1935. Press photographers snapped pictures as FDR, flanked by ranking members of Congress, signed into law the historic act, which guaranteed an income for the unemployed and retirees. FDR commended Congress for what he considered to be a “patriotic” act.

Roosevelt had taken the helm of the country in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, the nation’s worst economic crisis. The Social Security Act (SSA) was in keeping with his other “New Deal” programs, including the establishment of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, which attempted to hoist America out of the Great Depression by putting Americans back to work.

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Sources

1. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/business/energy-environment/ai-data-centers-electricity-costs.html
2. https://www.wsj.com/business/autos/tesla-eyes-new-york-city-for-robotaxis-with-test-driver-job-posting-cb8e724a?mod=hp_lead_pos11
3. https://www.ft.com/content/9df47660-a5b1-4c21-97fd-74275defaf3a
4. https://www.ft.com/content/0aa13382-7479-4bd0-a106-5a92ae361156
5. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/14/world/europe/putin-russia-ukraine-war-resurgence.html

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