Overview
- Industry commitments to AI data centers approached the trillion‑dollar mark in 2025, straining electricity and water supplies and contributing to record coal consumption.
- The policy stance shifted decisively as President Trump revoked prior AI rules and announced Project Stargate, a $500 billion federal‑private plan to accelerate data‑center and power buildouts.
- Market risk has intensified with the 10 largest S&P 500 companies now exceeding 40% of the index and with financing tilting toward record credit deals, spurring warnings of an AI bubble from some strategists.
- Adoption and capability kept surging, with ChatGPT reaching roughly 800 million weekly users and new reasoning models winning top math competitions and producing fresh results.
- Humanoid robotics moved from prototypes to commercial reality, with thousands of units reportedly shipped by Chinese makers, U.S. pilots under way in factories and warehouses, and Tesla entering pilot production.