Microsoft out with a new five-point plan to reduce consumers' electricity costs from data centers after President Trump posted last night that big tech companies must pay their own way.

Or Deirdre Bosa has more in today's tech check. So what do you make of how this works, Deirdre?

So I actually think that this is a window into how the AI race is changing. So the biggest American players themselves,

they're now putting the China risk point front and center as a way of scaring policymakers into moving faster and clearing a path for faster build out here at home. Here's Microsoft

President Brad Smith on our air to Amin Javre's just about an hour ago.

Deep Seek really changed the game a year ago.

Right now, there are more Chinese open source models being used, not surprisingly in China

and Russia and Iran, but also increasingly across Africa.

And this is an element where we think the United States needs to pay more attention.

So this follows a report from Microsoft late last week on global AI adoption that puts numbers

around this warning. It shows Chinese open source models gaining real share outside the

Western, even at home, quite frankly. Now, this is framing access as a strategic necessity,

and it's a strategy that Jensen Wong and

Nvidia has helped to define, and one that we are likely to see more of from big tech as they

face more pushback against their building plans.

According to Data Center Watch, more than $64 billion worth of U.S. Data Center projects

have been blocked or delayed, and that is more than double the level just two years

ago. That spike lines up with the AI buildout. And it also lines up with mega caps changing their

entire cost structure to keep up. We showed you this chart yesterday as well. It's one worth going

back to. Now, one more layer to this that is worth noting, the messaging, it cuts both ways.

And the U.S.

Big Tech is talking up the risk of China, closing the gap to press for speed and flexibility.

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