Regular readers are aware that one of our biggest concerns with the AI supercycle, and the entire AI arms race between the US and China, is that when push comes to shove, not only is there mounting grassroots opposition to data center build out across the US but, more importantly, the US is badly lagging China when it comes to the rollout of much needed energy to power the hundreds of Gigawatts of energy needed to power up the hundreds of data centers that are coming on line.
Consider that as we noted two weeks ago, China is currently building 37 nuclear reactors while the US is building zero.
Monthly nuclear update: China 37 nuclear reactors under construction; US 0 pic.twitter.com/GnIU82Jqtf
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 14, 2026
Meanwhile, the stopgap measure of using gas power as data center energy sources, while prudent, is about to hit a wall as much of the future buildout is rapidly approaching its maximum capacity. Which means that unless nuclear energy is fast-tracked, there will be a massive energy gap preventing the future construction of data centers, something we noted in "More Than Two-Thirds Of The Power Sought For US Data Centers Will Never Materialize."
Which is why we have been keeping a close eye on the rollout and commercialization of modular
