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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 1h

Tomorrow: The AI Bubble is built on impossible promises. GPUs die in 5 years, nobody has built a 1GW data center, and they have the power to do so. Stargate Abilene won't have enough power before 2028.

Here's a link for $10 off premium.

edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo...

Everybody is very casual with how they talk about Sam Altman’s theoretical promises of trillions of dollars of data center infrastructure, and I'm not sure anybody realizes how difficult even the very basics of this plan will be.
Nevertheless, everybody is happily publishing stories about how “Stargate Abilene Texas - OpenAI’s massive data center with Oracle - is open,” by which they mean two buildings, and I’m not even confident both of them are providing compute to OpenAI yet. There are six more of them that need to get built for this thing to start rocking at 1.2GW - even though it’s only 1.1GW according to my sources in Abilene.
But, hey, sorry - one minute - while we’re on that subject, did anybody visiting Abilene in the last week or so ever ask whether they’ll have enough power there?
Don’t worry, you don’t need to look - I’m sure you were just about to, and had simply been busy! - but I did the hard work for you and read up on it, and it turns out that Stargate Abilene only has 200 megawatts of power - a 200 megawatt substation that, according to my sources, has only been built within the last couple of months, with 350 Megawatt of gas turbine generators that connect to a natural gas power plant that might get built by the end of the year in the event that one of the multiple construction firms involved . Said turbine is extremely expensive, featuring volatile pricing (for context, volatility fell in Q2 2025…to 69% annualized, meaning that if you had these prices across the entirety of a year you’d see swings of 69% up or down) and even more volatile environmental consequences, and is, while permitted for it (this will download the PDF of the permit), impractical and expensive to use long-term.
Analyst James van Geelen, founder of Citrini Research recently said on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast that these are “not the really good natural gas turbines” because the really good ones would take seven years to deliver due to a natural gas turbine shortage.
But th…

$Stargate Abilene does not have sufficient power to run at even half of its supposed IT load of 1.2GW, and at its present capacity - assuming that the gas turbines function at full power - can only hope to run 370MW to 460MW of IT load. I’ve seen article after article about the gas turbines and their use of fracked gas - a disgusting and wasteful act typical of OpenAI - but nobody appears to have asked “how much power does a 1.2GW data center require?” and then chased it with “how much power does Stargate Abilene have?” The answer is not enough, and the significance of said “not enough” is remarkable. Today, I’m going to tell you, at length, how impossible the future of generative AI is. Gigawatt data centers are a ridiculous pipe dream, one that runs face-first into the walls of reality. The world’s governments and media have been far too cavalier with the term “gigawatt,” casually breezing by the fact that Altman’s plans require 17 or more nuclear reactors’ worth of power, as if building power is quick and easy and cheap and just happens. I believe that many of you think that this is an issue of permitting - of simply throwing enough money at the problem - when we are in the midst of a shortage in the electrical grade steel and transformers required to expand America (and the world’s) power grid. I realize it’s easy to get blinded by the constant drumbeat of “gargoyle-like tycoon cabal builds 1 gigawatt data center” and feel that they will simply overwhelm the problem with money, but no, I’m afraid that isn’t the case at all, and all of this is so silly, so ridiculous, so cartoonishly bad that it threatens even the seemingly-infinite wealth of Elon Musk, with xAI burning over a billion dollars a month and planning to spend tens of billions of dollars building the Colossus 2 data center, dragging two billion dollars from SpaceX in his desperate quest to burn as much money as possible for no reason. This is the age of hubris - a time in which we are going to watc…$

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Brian Hill @brianhill53703.bsky.social · 31m

I was going to say, lol.

428 expansion packs, though.

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Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 35m

Pope Leo XIV urged labor union leaders from Chicago to advocate for immigrants as the national immigration crackdown continues.
trib.al/FaAFksn

Pope meets with Chicago union leaders, urges migrant welcome as crackdown underway in hometown

Pope Leo XIV urged labor union leaders from Chicago to advocate for immigrants as the national immigration crackdown continues.

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Brian Hill @brianhill53703.bsky.social · 35m

He's just a wee bastard.

I think that's altered a bit, though.

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paris martineau @paris.nyc · 5h

after the 10th radioactive shrimp recall in 7 weeks, i decided to do some digging

little did i know it would lead me to an underreported industrial accident that may have released an airborne plume of radioactive debris over swaths of indonesia
www.consumerreports.org/health/food-...

What Is Really Going on With All This Radioactive Shrimp? - Consumer Reports

Here’s the latest on how shrimp and spices got contaminated with cesium-137, how the FDA has responded, and why consumers should not panic.

www.consumerreports.org

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 1h

A judge blocked the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area for two weeks, finding no substantial evidence of a “danger of rebellion"

Judge Blocks National Guard Deployment In Illinois For 2 Weeks

A judge blocked the deployment of National Guard troops in the Chicago area for two weeks, finding no substantial evidence that a “danger of rebellion” is brewing in Illinois.

www.huffpost.com

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Great Black Shark @aziatic77.bsky.social · 4h

Funny part is when Elon was running DOGE, they were trying to sell government buildings (because “efficiency”). Now they want to buy them. This administration doesn’t know what to do with themselves. They’re as dumb as they are dangerous.

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 8h

Noem: "With your authority, we're purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of. We're gonna not back off -- in fact, we're doubling down. We're gonna be in more parts of Chicago in response to the people there. We're looking at facilities we can deploy more law enforcement out of."

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Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 7h

Kenvue's lawsuit is going to be massive

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 7h

Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."

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Ryan Haas @ryanjhaas.bsky.social · 1d

Among the endless fire hose of news, there was an interesting nugget buried in Mayor Keith Wilson's statement today.

The city of Portland is considering taking over the lease of the ICE facility and the city said it has no intention of being ICE's landlord.

Portland weighs taking over lease at ICE facility

The ramifications of the city taking over the federal facility lease were not immediately clear Wednesday.

www.opb.org

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 10h

Mike Johnson tries for an Academy Award: "I'm upset. I'm a very patient man but I'm very angry right now."

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Michael J. Stern @michaeljstern.bsky.social · 21h

Damn, The Las Vegas Sun newspaper, @lasvegassun.bsky.social, is calling it like it is:

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 4h

Worth emphasizing that there are serious questions about whether or not Lindsey Halligan is even legally in her job

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Jess Piper @piperformissouri.bsky.social · 6h

I feel like a broken record, but I have to keep saying it over and over again: a farmer bailout won’t do much of anything because the market is gone. There will be no incentive to plant next year.

The bailout will help payoff farmer debt to the banks. That’s all.

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CREW @citizensforethics.org · 10h

Former FBI Director James Comey's indictment is more than a case—it's a warning.

It’s the most obvious instance yet of targeting political opponents, while letting allies off the hook. 🧵

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George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 12h

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Brian Hill @brianhill53703.bsky.social · 1h

A full grown Buffalo is a bit heavier than a Toyota Carola.

...for perspective.

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Julie Zebrak @juliezebrak.bsky.social · 3h

Oh www.bbc.com/news/article...

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon sounds warning on US stock market fall

Jamie Dimon said he was "far more worried than others" about the potential for a stock market correction.

www.bbc.com

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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 20h

CNN on the pastor shot in the head with a pepper ball by ICE in Chicago.

This is not an isolated incident. Even among priests! www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMSy8o4y/

Amanda Tovar witnessed Chicago pastor David Black hit by ICE pepper balls and recorded video. Here's what she saw. #cnn #news #ice #chicago

TikTok video by CNN

www.tiktok.com

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Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 6h

NEWS: The Epstein Survivors' press conference yesterday was postponed. New date TBD.

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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 18h

Russian attack on Odesa last night.

At least five people injured and massive fires.

Terrible.

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The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 4h

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Block Club Chicago @blockclubchi.bsky.social · 2h

BREAKING: A federal judge has partially blocked the Trump administration's efforts to mobilize the National Guard in Chicago.
blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/09/j...

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Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 2h

President Donald Trump’s administration is buying more property in Chicago to carry out immigration enforcement, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday.

Trump administration buying Chicago property for more ICE operations, Noem says

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told President Donald Trump "we’re gonna be in more parts of Chicago" to expand ICE operations.

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Brian Hill @brianhill53703.bsky.social · 2h

"Even the streets leading up to its outer barriers were roamed by gorilla-faced guards in black uniforms, armed with jointed truncheons"
- Description of Miniluv, 1984

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