Get ONMINE

Stay Ahead, Stay ONMINE

Georgia Follows Ohio’s Lead in Moving Energy Costs to Data Centers

The rule also mandates that any new contracts between Georgia Power and large-load customers exceeding 100 MW be submitted to the PSC for review. This provision ensures regulatory oversight and transparency in agreements that could significantly impact the state’s power grid and ratepayers. Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald points out that this is one of a […]

The rule also mandates that any new contracts between Georgia Power and large-load customers exceeding 100 MW be submitted to the PSC for review. This provision ensures regulatory oversight and transparency in agreements that could significantly impact the state’s power grid and ratepayers.

Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald points out that this is one of a number of actions that the PSC is planning to protect ratepayers, and that the PSC’s 2025 Integrated Resource Plan will further address data center power usage.

Keeping Ahead of Anticipated Energy Demand

This regulatory change reflects Georgia’s proactive approach to managing the increasing energy demands associated with the state’s growing data center industry, aiming to balance economic development with the interests of all electricity consumers.

Georgia Power has been trying very hard to develop generation capacity to meet it’s expected usage pattern, but the demand is increasing at an incredible rate.

In their projection for increased energy demand, the 2022 number was 400 MW by 2030. A year later, in their 2023 Integrated Resource Plan, the anticipated increase had grown to 6600 MW by 2030.

Georgia Power recently brought online two new nuclear reactors at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, significantly increasing its nuclear generation capacity giving the four unit power generation station a capacity of over 4.5 GW. This development has contributed to a shift in Georgia’s energy mix, with clean energy sources surpassing fossil fuels for the first time.

But despite the commitment to nuclear power, the company is also in the process of developing three new power plants at the Yates Steam Generating Plant. According to the AJC newspaper, regulators had approved the construction of fossil fuel power, approving natural gas and oil-fired power plants.

Designed as “peaker” plants to come online at times of increased the demand, the power plants will be able to deliver up to 1.3 GW of power when necessary, or roughly the equivalent of a single one of the four reactors at the Vogtle Nuclear Generation Station.

More details should be available soon, when the 2025 Integrated Resource Plan is released, about Georgia Power’s plan to issue an RFP  to directly address capacity needs for 2029 through 2031.

This follows on to the 2024 RFP for 500 MW energy storage systems. The company’s most recent projections for energy demand are looking to add 10 GW of renewable energy by 2035; almost doubling previous projections for 2030.

Getting the Power Where It Is Needed

In October of 2024, Georgia Power was awarded over $160 million from the Department of Energy via the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program.

Investments under GRIP are targeted at improving the resiliency of the grid and making events such as extreme weather conditions less likely to threaten power delivery.

According to Fran Forehand, Senior Vice President of Transmission for Georgia Power:

Shape
Shape
Stay Ahead

Explore More Insights

More Articles

Stay ahead with more perspectives on cutting-edge power, infrastructure, energy,  bitcoin and AI solutions. Explore these articles to uncover strategies and insights shaping the future of industries.

Shape

Nvidia partners with cybersecurity vendors for real-time monitoring

Unlike conventional offerings that rely on intrusive methods or software agents, BlueField-3 DPUs function as a virtual security overlay. They inspect network traffic and safeguard host integrity without disrupting operations. Other packages rely on tapping devices to access network data, which helps create a map of interconnected devices. But these

Read More »

Elliott Pushes Big Cost Cuts at BP to Preserve Its Independence

Elliott Investment Management is demanding BP Plc make drastic cost cuts and divestments to strengthen its future as a standalone company, people with knowledge of the matter said.  The activist investor has asked BP to slash expenses in a range of areas to bring them more in line with peers, the people said. It’s built up a nearly 5% interest in BP, according to the people, which would be worth around £3.7 billion ($4.6 billion) at BP’s current share price and make it one of Elliott’s biggest-ever bets globally. Elliott wants BP to reshape its business to be more like other oil majors such as Shell Plc by cutting spending in areas such as renewable energy, as well as making sizable non-core asset divestments, according to the people. It’s pushing BP to refocus its capital allocation priorities so it can boost shareholder returns through buybacks and dividends, the people said.  The activist currently sees more value in overhauling BP’s operations and maintaining its independence, rather than selling out to a competitor at a small premium, the people said. Since a shift toward renewable energy under BP’s previous leadership, the company’s valuation has lagged its peers. Several of those rivals have been running the numbers over what a takeover of BP might look like, an indicator of how far the London-based behemoth has fallen, Bloomberg News has reported.  BP has recently held some initial discussions with Elliott, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Elliott sees the upcoming Feb. 26 capital markets day — where Chief Executive Officer Murray Auchincloss is expected to unveil a new strategy — as a key test of management’s credibility, the people said.  Auchincloss recently told BP staff that 5% of employees would be laid off to cut costs. That would

Read More »

Oil Steadies as Tariff Delay Offsets Lower Risk to Russian Flows

Oil settled little changed, rebounding from the lowest since December, as a hazy timeline surrounding US President Donald Trump’s plans to impose reciprocal tariffs counteracted potentially easing risks to Russian supplies.   West Texas Intermediate ended the session fractionally lower near $71 a barrel after Trump directed his administration to propose new levies on a country-by-country basis that could take weeks or months to complete. The delay reduced concerns that the levies will hamper demand and sparked speculation Trump may not follow through on the measures.  Crude had earlier dropped as low as $70.22 after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to talks on ending the war in Ukraine. A Kremlin spokesperson confirmed that Ukraine will participate in peace talks, raising the prospect that sanctions imposed by the Biden administration may be lifted and that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s industry will abate, allowing Moscow’s crude to again flow freely.  “A potential resolution could significantly ease war-related costs, particularly in the energy sector,” City Index and Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada wrote in a note. In regards to Trump’s tariff threats, “markets have so far taken them as merely a negotiating ploy.”  Trump’s various trade measures have also weighed on sentiment and prices over the past three weeks. The president’s policies risk stoking volatility in global markets and have the potential to create supply-demand imbalances that aren’t reflective of fundamentals, OPEC said in a monthly report on Wednesday. The release also showed that several members are better implementing supply curbs. Prices: WTI for March delivery fell 8 cents to settle at $71.29 a barrel in New York. Brent for April settlement fell by 16 cents to settle at $75.02 a barrel. WHAT DO YOU THINK? Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All

Read More »

U.S. Department of Energy Reverses Biden LNG Pause, Restores Trump Energy Dominance Agenda

These Day One Actions will Return the Department to Regular Order. WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), effective today, is ending the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) pause and returning to regular order following direction given by President Donald J. Trump to “unleash American Energy Dominance.” The Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) is directed to resume consideration of pending applications to export American liquefied natural gas (LNG) to countries without a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States in accordance with the Natural Gas Act. Proper consideration of LNG export applications is required by law and shall proceed accordingly.  Last month, the Department published a multi-volume analysis of selected issues concerning LNG exports and established February 18, 2025, as the deadline for public comments of the study. To ensure such public interest determinations receive appropriate stakeholder input, the Department is extending the comment period from February 18, 2025 to March 20, 2025.  Notwithstanding the goal of expeditious determinations, the importance of appropriate administrative records justifies an extension of the period for public comment. Acting DOE Secretary Ingrid Kolb has directed the FECM to return to regular order and resume consideration of all applications. This process should occur simultaneously with the multi-agency NEPA review process to streamline and reduce inefficiencies in the regulatory process.  ###

Read More »

ICYMI: What Energy Experts are Saying About President Trump Restoring LNG Exports

Following President Donald J. Trump’s day one order to “unleash American Energy Dominance,” the Department of Energy announced earlier this week it ended the Biden administration’s pause on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export permits and was returning the department to regular order.  The announcement has been met with widespread praise from policymakers, industry leaders, and trade associations. What They’re Saying: “This policy has created great excitement, not only in the energy industry but in other industries as well. It will restore energy dominance and independence here in the United States, giving the President so many more options regarding foreign policy.” – Former U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette (R-LA) “The one [Executive Order] that hit me—and will have the quickest effect on us—is getting rid of the LNG pause that Biden put into place overnight. The message there is clear—not only to U.S. producers and those operating export facilities along the Gulf Coast, but also to our allies: you can count on the United States again to deliver energy. For instance, the folks in Ukraine, the folks in Europe—all of those people who had to rely on Russian gas instead of U.S. gas can now depend on us.” – Former U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Rick Perry (R-TX) “EQT has long been an advocate for the role that U.S. LNG plays in allowing the United States to promote its values abroad while addressing the world’s energy needs. We are appreciative of the Day One action from the President to lift the pause on LNG exports. This action signifies a strong understanding from the Administration of the need to allow market forces – not political forces – to drive the cheapest, most reliable energy to the market. This decision will only further our ability to create jobs, lower global emissions

Read More »

Secretary Wright Acts to “Unleash Golden Era of American Energy Dominance”

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright signed his first Secretarial Order today directing the Department of Energy to take immediate action to unleash American Energy in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders. SECRETARIAL ORDER FEBRUARY 5, 2025FROM:                       CHRIS WRIGHT                                   SECRETARY OF ENERGYSUBJECT:                  Unleashing the Golden Era of American Energy Dominance As Secretary of Energy, it is an immense privilege to serve alongside each of you at such a consequential moment in American history. Energy is the essential ingredient that enables everything we do. A highly energized society can bring health, wealth, and opportunity for all. At the Department, we have an opportunity to promote energy abundance, demonstrate leadership in scientific and technological innovation, steward and strengthen our weapons stockpiles, and meet Cold War legacy waste clean-up commitments. President Trump has outlined a bold and ambitious agenda to unleash American energy at home and abroad to restore energy dominance. To compete globally, we must expand energy production and reduce energy costs for American families and businesses. America must lead the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs, which includes accelerating the work of the Department’s National Laboratories. We must also permit and build energy infrastructure and remove barriers to progress, including federal policies that make it too easy to stop projects and far too difficult to complete projects. We must pursue a culture of transparency, performance, and common sense to succeed. Accordingly, the Department will take the following initial actions: 1. Advance Energy Addition, Not Subtraction:  Great attention has been paid to the pursuing of a net-zero carbon future. Net-zero policies raise energy costs for American families

Read More »

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright Announces Key Senior Staff Appointments

WASHINGTON— Today, U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced key appointments to the Department’s senior leadership team, naming experienced professionals who will lead efforts to advance President Trump’s energy agenda.  “President Trump has outlined a bold and ambitious agenda for restoring American energy dominance, and this exceptional team of leaders will be essential to delivering that agenda in this critical moment,” Secretary Wright said. “Energy is essential to everything we do, and I look forward to working together to remove barriers to innovation, cut red tape and pursue common sense solutions for unleashing our energy potential. The American people deserve nothing less.” Key senior staff appointments include: Office of the SecretaryAlexander Fitzsimmons, Chief of StaffAudrey Barrios, Advisor to the SecretaryMike Kopp, Senior Advisor to the SecretaryConner Prochaska, Senior AdvisorTheodore Garrish, Senior AdvisorJohn LaValle, White House LiaisonSamuel Fodale, Deputy White House Liaison Office of the Under Secretary for InfrastructureSteven Winberg, Acting Under Secretary Office of Public AffairsAndrea Woods, Deputy DirectorBen Dietderich, Press Secretary and Chief Spokesperson Office of ManagementAshley Hebert, Director, Scheduling and AdvanceIsabelle Lamanna, Director of Scheduling Office of the Chief Financial OfficerJoshua Jones, Senior Advisor Office of Clean Energy DemonstrationsCurt Coccodrilli, Senior AdvisorCathleen Tripodi, Executive Director Office of ScienceChristian Newton, Chief of Staff Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business UtilizationCharles Smith, Director Loan Programs OfficeJohn Sneed, Director Grid Deployment OfficeJoseph Alexander, Chief of StaffChristina Francone, Senior Advisor Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental AffairsShawn Affolter, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy and Carbon ManagementTala Goudarzi, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Kevin Tatulyan, Chief of Staff Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable EnergyLouis Hrkman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary  Assistant Secretary for ElectricityCatherine Jereza, Senior Advisor Assistant Secretary for Environmental ManagementRoger Jarrell, Senior Advisor Assistant Secretary for International AffairsWilliam Joyce, Principal Deputy Assistant SecretaryAndrew Rapp, Senior Advisor State And

Read More »

Deep Diving on DeepSeek: AI Disruption and the Future of Liquid Cooling

We know that the data center industry is currently undergoing a period of rapid transformation, driven by the increasing demands of artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and evolving cooling technologies. And it appears that the recent emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, alongside supply chain issues for NVIDIA’s next-generation GB200 AI chips, may be prompting data center operators to reconsider their cooling strategies. Angela Taylor, Chief of Staff at LiquidStack, provided insights to Data Center Frontier on these developments, outlining potential shifts in the industry and the future of liquid cooling adoption. DeepSeek’s Market Entry and Supply Chain Disruptions Taylor told DCF, “DeepSeek’s entry into the market, combined with NVIDIA’s GB200 supply chain delays, is giving data center operators a lot to think about.” At issue here is how DeepSeek’s R1 chatbot came out of the box positioned an energy-efficient AI model that reportedly requires significantly less power than many of its competitors. This development raises questions about whether current data center cooling infrastructures are adequate, particularly as AI workloads become more specialized and diverse. At the same time, NVIDIA’s highly anticipated GB200 NVL72 AI servers, designed to handle next-generation AI workloads, are reportedly facing supply chain bottlenecks. Advanced design requirements, particularly for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and power-efficient cooling systems, have delayed shipments, with peak availability now expected between Q2 and Q3 of 2025.  This combination of a new AI player and delayed hardware supply has created uncertainty, compelling data center operators to reconsider their near-term cooling infrastructure investments. A Temporary Slowdown in AI Data Center Retrofits? Taylor also observed, “We may see a short-term slowdown in AI data center retrofits as operators assess whether air cooling can now meet their needs.” The efficiency of DeepSeek’s AI models suggests that some AI workloads may require less power and generate less heat, making air

Read More »

Georgia Follows Ohio’s Lead in Moving Energy Costs to Data Centers

The rule also mandates that any new contracts between Georgia Power and large-load customers exceeding 100 MW be submitted to the PSC for review. This provision ensures regulatory oversight and transparency in agreements that could significantly impact the state’s power grid and ratepayers. Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald points out that this is one of a number of actions that the PSC is planning to protect ratepayers, and that the PSC’s 2025 Integrated Resource Plan will further address data center power usage. Keeping Ahead of Anticipated Energy Demand This regulatory change reflects Georgia’s proactive approach to managing the increasing energy demands associated with the state’s growing data center industry, aiming to balance economic development with the interests of all electricity consumers. Georgia Power has been trying very hard to develop generation capacity to meet it’s expected usage pattern, but the demand is increasing at an incredible rate. In their projection for increased energy demand, the 2022 number was 400 MW by 2030. A year later, in their 2023 Integrated Resource Plan, the anticipated increase had grown to 6600 MW by 2030. Georgia Power recently brought online two new nuclear reactors at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, significantly increasing its nuclear generation capacity giving the four unit power generation station a capacity of over 4.5 GW. This development has contributed to a shift in Georgia’s energy mix, with clean energy sources surpassing fossil fuels for the first time. But despite the commitment to nuclear power, the company is also in the process of developing three new power plants at the Yates Steam Generating Plant. According to the AJC newspaper, regulators had approved the construction of fossil fuel power, approving natural gas and oil-fired power plants. Designed as “peaker” plants to come online at times of increased the demand, the power plants will

Read More »

Chevron, GE Vernova, Engine No.1 Join Race to Co-Locate Natural Gas Plants for U.S. Data Centers

Other Recent Natural Gas Developments for Data Centers As of February 2025, the data center industry has seen a host of significant developments in natural gas plant technologies and strategic partnerships aimed at meeting the escalating energy demands driven by AI and cloud computing. In addition to the partnership between Chevron, Engine No. 1, and GE Vernova, other consequential initiatives include the following: ExxonMobil’s Entry into the Electricity Market ExxonMobil has announced plans to build natural gas-fired power plants to supply electricity to AI data centers. The company intends to leverage carbon capture and storage technology to minimize emissions, positioning its natural gas solutions as competitive alternatives to nuclear power. This announcement in particular seemed to herald a notable shift in industry as fossil fuel companies venture into the electricity market to meet the rising demand for low-carbon power. Powerconnex Inc.’s Natural Gas Plant in Ohio An Ohio data center in New Albany, developed by Powerconnex Inc., plans to construct a natural gas-fired power plant on-site to meet its electricity needs amidst the AI industry’s increasing energy demands. The New Albany Energy Center is expected to generate up to 120 megawatts (MW) of electricity, with construction beginning in Q4 2025 and operations commencing by Q1 2026. Crusoe and Kalina Distributed Power Partnership in Alberta, Canada AI data center developer Crusoe has entered into a multi-year framework agreement with Kalina Distributed Power to develop multiple co-located AI data centers powered by natural gas power plants in Alberta, Canada. Crusoe will own and operate the data centers, purchasing power from three Kalina-owned 170 MW gas-fired power plants through 15-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Entergy’s Natural Gas Power Plants for Data Centers Entergy plans to deploy three new natural gas power plants, providing over 2,200 MW of energy over 15 years, pending approval

Read More »

Podcast: Phill Lawson-Shanks, Chief Innovation Officer, Aligned Data Centers

In the latest episode of the Data Center Frontier Show podcast, DCF Editor-in-Chief Matt Vincent sits down with Phill Lawson-Shanks, Chief Innovation Officer at Aligned Data Centers, for a wide-ranging discussion that touches on some of the most pressing trends and challenges shaping the future of the data center industry. From the role of nuclear energy and natural gas in addressing the sector’s growing power demands, to the rapid expansion of Aligned’s operations in Latin America (LATAM), in the course of the podcast Lawson-Shanks provides deep insight into where the industry is headed. Scaling Sustainability: Tracking Embodied Carbon and Scope 3 Emissions A key focus of the conversation is sustainability, where Aligned continues to push boundaries in carbon tracking and energy efficiency. Lawson-Shanks highlights the company’s commitment to monitoring embodied carbon—an effort that began four years ago and has since positioned Aligned as an industry leader. “We co-authored and helped found the Climate Accord with iMasons—taking sustainability to a whole new level,” he notes, emphasizing how Aligned is now extending its carbon traceability standards to ODATA’s facilities in LATAM. By implementing lifecycle assessments (LCAs) and tracking Scope 3 emissions, Aligned aims to provide clients with a detailed breakdown of their environmental impact. “The North American market is still behind in lifecycle assessments and environmental product declarations. Where gaps exist, we look for adjacencies and highlight them—helping move the industry forward,” Lawson-Shanks explains. The Nuclear Moment: A Game-Changer for Data Center Power One of the most compelling segments of the discussion revolves around the growing interest in nuclear energy—particularly small modular reactors (SMRs) and microreactors—as a viable long-term power solution for data centers. Lawson-Shanks describes the recent industry buzz surrounding Oklo’s announcement of a 12-gigawatt deployment with Switch as a significant milestone, calling the move “inevitable.” “There are dozens of nuclear

Read More »

Talen Energy Continues Behind-the-Meter Power Fight for AWS Data Center Campus

Talen Energy filed suit on January 28th against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)’s November 2024 ruling to prevent the company from finalizing their power purchase agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS).   The rejection of the original agreement marked a pivotal development in the United States’ energy policy and data center operations alongside technological advances. Various sectors such as renewable energy investment, data center expansion, grid reliability, and corporate sustainability planning will feel the impact of this ruling. It seems that the primary concerns of FERC were the lack of transparency about the implementation plans, and whether or not the deal would raise consumer prices on power. FERC had also denied a rehearing request from Talen which has resulted in this filing with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Background on the Talen-AWS Power Agreement As a major player in the cloud services industry under Amazon’s umbrella, AWS continues to rapidly build its infrastructure to address the increasing demand for cloud computing services. The expansion of AWS includes building data centers which need massive energy consumption. In its Fourth Quarter 2024 financial results, AWS reported significant developments related to data centers and infrastructure. The company achieved net sales of $28.8 billion in Q4 2024, marking a 19% increase from the same quarter in 2023. Operating income for AWS also rose to $10.6 billion, up from $7.2 billion in Q4 2023. AWS also announced a $10 billion investment to build two data center complexes in Mississippi, the largest capital investment in the state’s history, expected to create at least 1,000 jobs. AWS has also pledged to achieve 100% renewable energy for its operations by 2025 as part of Amazon’s wider environmental commitment. For its part, the Pennsylvania-based energy company Talen Energy maintains a varied portfolio of generation assets which combines both traditional

Read More »

As Intel Stumbles, AMD Sees Significant Growth In Its Data Center and AI Business

Meanwhile, high performance computing (HPC) and supercomputing have been big wins for AMD with El Capitan. The supercomputer at Lawerence Livermore National Laboratory has the recent distinction becoming the second AMD powered supercomputer to pass the exascale performance threshold and hitting #1 on the most recent Top500 supercomputer list. What’s Going On With Intel? In December 2024, CEO Pat Gelsinger was ousted amid dissatisfaction with the pace of his turnaround strategy. Interim co-CEOs David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus have assumed leadership as the company searches for a permanent successor. This leadership instability has raised concerns about Intel’s strategic direction, particularly in its efforts to establish a contract chip manufacturing business. In the third quarter of 2024, AMD surpssed Intel’s data center and AI group’s earnings of $3.3 billion in the same period. In the AI chip market, Intel has struggled to keep pace with Nvidia. The company canceled plans for its Falcon Shores GPU accelerator and has seen weak demand for its Gaudi AI accelerator chip. At the same time, AMD has seen significant success with its Instinct family of GPUs. In the server CPU segment, Intel has delayed its efficiency-focused Clearwater Forest server CPU to 2026, while its 18A process is performing well. Further, Intel is preparing a high-core-count server CPU, Granite Rapids, slated for release in 2025, aiming to match AMD’s core counts for the first time since 2017. Market analysts expect continued market share loses to AMD in PC and Server, where Intel formerly dominated, as reflected  by the company’s 4% market share loss, and AMD picking up that market share. While Intel is focusing on managing operating expenses and refocusing their efforts, having shed underperforming units over the last 18 months, Intel faces significant market challenges. What Does the Future Hold for AMD? AMD EVP,

Read More »

Microsoft will invest $80B in AI data centers in fiscal 2025

And Microsoft isn’t the only one that is ramping up its investments into AI-enabled data centers. Rival cloud service providers are all investing in either upgrading or opening new data centers to capture a larger chunk of business from developers and users of large language models (LLMs).  In a report published in October 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence estimated that demand for generative AI would push Microsoft, AWS, Google, Oracle, Meta, and Apple would between them devote $200 billion to capex in 2025, up from $110 billion in 2023. Microsoft is one of the biggest spenders, followed closely by Google and AWS, Bloomberg Intelligence said. Its estimate of Microsoft’s capital spending on AI, at $62.4 billion for calendar 2025, is lower than Smith’s claim that the company will invest $80 billion in the fiscal year to June 30, 2025. Both figures, though, are way higher than Microsoft’s 2020 capital expenditure of “just” $17.6 billion. The majority of the increased spending is tied to cloud services and the expansion of AI infrastructure needed to provide compute capacity for OpenAI workloads. Separately, last October Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said his company planned total capex spend of $75 billion in 2024 and even more in 2025, with much of it going to AWS, its cloud computing division.

Read More »

John Deere unveils more autonomous farm machines to address skill labor shortage

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More Self-driving tractors might be the path to self-driving cars. John Deere has revealed a new line of autonomous machines and tech across agriculture, construction and commercial landscaping. The Moline, Illinois-based John Deere has been in business for 187 years, yet it’s been a regular as a non-tech company showing off technology at the big tech trade show in Las Vegas and is back at CES 2025 with more autonomous tractors and other vehicles. This is not something we usually cover, but John Deere has a lot of data that is interesting in the big picture of tech. The message from the company is that there aren’t enough skilled farm laborers to do the work that its customers need. It’s been a challenge for most of the last two decades, said Jahmy Hindman, CTO at John Deere, in a briefing. Much of the tech will come this fall and after that. He noted that the average farmer in the U.S. is over 58 and works 12 to 18 hours a day to grow food for us. And he said the American Farm Bureau Federation estimates there are roughly 2.4 million farm jobs that need to be filled annually; and the agricultural work force continues to shrink. (This is my hint to the anti-immigration crowd). John Deere’s autonomous 9RX Tractor. Farmers can oversee it using an app. While each of these industries experiences their own set of challenges, a commonality across all is skilled labor availability. In construction, about 80% percent of contractors struggle to find skilled labor. And in commercial landscaping, 86% of landscaping business owners can’t find labor to fill open positions, he said. “They have to figure out how to do

Read More »

2025 playbook for enterprise AI success, from agents to evals

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More 2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for enterprise AI. The past year has seen rapid innovation, and this year will see the same. This has made it more critical than ever to revisit your AI strategy to stay competitive and create value for your customers. From scaling AI agents to optimizing costs, here are the five critical areas enterprises should prioritize for their AI strategy this year. 1. Agents: the next generation of automation AI agents are no longer theoretical. In 2025, they’re indispensable tools for enterprises looking to streamline operations and enhance customer interactions. Unlike traditional software, agents powered by large language models (LLMs) can make nuanced decisions, navigate complex multi-step tasks, and integrate seamlessly with tools and APIs. At the start of 2024, agents were not ready for prime time, making frustrating mistakes like hallucinating URLs. They started getting better as frontier large language models themselves improved. “Let me put it this way,” said Sam Witteveen, cofounder of Red Dragon, a company that develops agents for companies, and that recently reviewed the 48 agents it built last year. “Interestingly, the ones that we built at the start of the year, a lot of those worked way better at the end of the year just because the models got better.” Witteveen shared this in the video podcast we filmed to discuss these five big trends in detail. Models are getting better and hallucinating less, and they’re also being trained to do agentic tasks. Another feature that the model providers are researching is a way to use the LLM as a judge, and as models get cheaper (something we’ll cover below), companies can use three or more models to

Read More »

OpenAI’s red teaming innovations define new essentials for security leaders in the AI era

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More OpenAI has taken a more aggressive approach to red teaming than its AI competitors, demonstrating its security teams’ advanced capabilities in two areas: multi-step reinforcement and external red teaming. OpenAI recently released two papers that set a new competitive standard for improving the quality, reliability and safety of AI models in these two techniques and more. The first paper, “OpenAI’s Approach to External Red Teaming for AI Models and Systems,” reports that specialized teams outside the company have proven effective in uncovering vulnerabilities that might otherwise have made it into a released model because in-house testing techniques may have missed them. In the second paper, “Diverse and Effective Red Teaming with Auto-Generated Rewards and Multi-Step Reinforcement Learning,” OpenAI introduces an automated framework that relies on iterative reinforcement learning to generate a broad spectrum of novel, wide-ranging attacks. Going all-in on red teaming pays practical, competitive dividends It’s encouraging to see competitive intensity in red teaming growing among AI companies. When Anthropic released its AI red team guidelines in June of last year, it joined AI providers including Google, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, and even the U.S.’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which all had released red teaming frameworks. Investing heavily in red teaming yields tangible benefits for security leaders in any organization. OpenAI’s paper on external red teaming provides a detailed analysis of how the company strives to create specialized external teams that include cybersecurity and subject matter experts. The goal is to see if knowledgeable external teams can defeat models’ security perimeters and find gaps in their security, biases and controls that prompt-based testing couldn’t find. What makes OpenAI’s recent papers noteworthy is how well they define using human-in-the-middle

Read More »
More Articles