☰
HomeLiving Beyond BordersGZERO WorldSignalIn 60 SecondsPuppet RegimeGZERO World PodcastContact UsAbout UsCareersPrivacy PolicyTerms

Hard Numbers: Unnatural gas needs, Google’s data centers, Homeland Security’s new board, Japan’s new LLM

April 30, 2024
Scott Nover
​FILE PHOTO: A flare burns excess natural gas in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S. November 23, 2019. Picture taken November 23, 2019.
FILE PHOTO: A flare burns excess natural gas in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S. November 23, 2019. Picture taken November 23, 2019.
REUTERS/Angus Mordant/File Photo

8.5 billion: Rising energy usage from AI data centers could lead to additional demand for natural gas of up to 8.5 billion cubic feet per day, according to an investment bank estimate. Generative AI requires high energy and water demands to power and cool expansive data centers, which climate advocates have warned could exacerbate climate change.

32 billion: Google is pouring $3 billion into data center projects to power its AI system. That budget includes $2 billion for a new data center in Fort Wayne, Ind., and $1 billion to expand three existing ones in Virginia. In earnings reports this week, Google, Meta, and Microsoft disclosed that they had spent $32 billion on data centers and related capital expenditures in the first quarter alone.

22: The US Department of Homeland Security announced a new Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board with 22 members including the CEOs of Alphabet (Sundar Pichai), Anthropic (Dario Amodei), OpenAI (Sam Altman), Microsoft (Satya Nadella), and Nvidia (Jensen Huang). The goal: to advise Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on “safe and secure development and deployment of AI technology in our nation’s critical infrastructure.”

960 million: SoftBank, the Japanese technology conglomerate, plans to pour $960 million to upgrade its computing facilities in the next two years in order to boost its AI capabilities. The company’s broad ambitions include funding and developing a large language model that’s “world-class” and geared specifically toward the Japanese language.
From Your Site Articles

More from GZERO Media

Hard Numbers: No daylight in Honduran presidential race, Japan’s lead banker sends bonds falling worldwide, Bird flu spreads like wildfire, Republicans seek to avoid Tennessee catastrophe

Luis Fernando Cerimedo, advisor of Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura of the National Party of Honduras (PN), speaks during a press conference after the general election, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, December 1, 2025.
REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

There are close presidential races, and then there’s the one in Honduras, where just 515 votes separate the top two candidates following Sunday’s election in the Central American nation.

What’s next for Zelensky?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspects a guard of honor by the Irish Army at Government Buildings during an Irish State visit, in Dublin, Ireland, on December 2, 2025.
REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Even though an energy corruption scandal is roiling his leadership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky isn’t necessarily in a rush to accept a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war – especially if the terms are unfavorable.

Tools and Weapons – In Conversation with Ed Policy

Microsoft

In this episode of Tools and Weapons, Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith sits down with Ed Policy, President and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, to discuss how purpose-driven leadership and innovation are shaping the future of one of the world’s most iconic sports franchises. Ed shares how technology and community-focused initiatives, from Titletown Tech to health and safety innovations on the field, are transforming not just the game of football, but the economy and culture of Green Bay itself. He explains how combining strategic vision with investment in local startups is keeping talent in the Midwest and creating opportunities that extend far beyond Lambeau Field.

Subscribe and find new episodes monthly, wherever you listen to podcasts.

The kids are not alright

The Gen Z group led by Miraj Dhungana escalates their ongoing demonstrations, confronting police outside the prime minister's official residence in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Nov. 26, 2025.
Sanjit Pariyar/NurPhoto

Youth unemployment is making headlines from China to Canada, with many countries’ rates at historic highs. The fallout is fueling Gen Z discontent, creating migration pressures, and threatening social unrest in nations around the globe.

Hard Numbers: Mother Nature batters South and Southeast Asia, Netanyahu asks for a pardon, Aussies get in kayaks to protest coal, Trump commutes sentence of fraudster, Leo makes first foreign trip as pope

People stay at a school, which is functioned as the temporary shelter at flooded area, on November 30, 2025 in Sumatra, Sumatra. The authorities in Indonesia were searching on Sunday for hundreds of people they said were missing after days of unusually heavy rains across Southeast Asia that have killed hundreds and displaced millions.
Photo by Li Zhiquan/China News Service/VCG

800: The death toll from the tropical storm that battered parts of Southeast Asia is now close to 800.

About UsCareers PressContact Us Privacy PolicyTerms of Use
© 2025 GZERO Media. All Rights Reserved | A Eurasia Group media company.