The Almost-Crisis That Struck Virginia’s Power Grid

WSJ Tech News Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

Tech News, News

4.3 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2026

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last year, roughly 40 data centers in Virginia suddenly dropped off the power grid, threatening to crash the system. A WSJ exclusive from reporter Katherine Blunt details this growing threat to power grids as companies across the country build infrastructure to power the AI boom. Plus, WSJ reporter Sean McLain joins to discuss Amazon’s strategy for catching up in the AI race. Peter Champelli hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	How are the U.S. businesses of Philip Morris International invested in America?
0:05.0	We're invested in advancing science, giving adults who smoke better options.
0:10.0	We're invested in American manufacturing, helping local economies thrive.
0:15.0	We're invested in community, supporting military veterans and their families,
0:19.0	disaster relief, and economic empowerment.
0:22.5	Because we're proud to be invested in America. See how at uspMI.com.
0:33.3	Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Tuesday, March 3rd. I'm Peter Champelli for the Wall Street Journal.
0:40.5	Amazon sells what everyone wants for cheaper than anyone else. That's the formula that's rocketed the company to the top of retail and cloud computing.
0:49.6	But can they use the same strategy in the AI race? And then, early last year, Virginia's power grid was threatened when dozens of data centers
0:58.6	suddenly dropped off.
1:01.2	We're bringing you inside our exclusive reporting, which revealed for the first time that
1:04.8	this dropout happened.
1:06.1	And we'll explain why there's a growing risk that it could happen again.
1:12.4	But first, Amazon has fallen behind in the artificial intelligence race, and they're trying to
1:18.1	catch up, so in December, they installed a new AI czar, Peter DeSantis, a widely respected
1:24.3	Amazon veteran, who's been at the company for nearly 28 years.
1:28.6	In that time, he's spearheaded cloud computing and silicon chip-making operations,
1:33.3	but will it be enough to boost their offerings?
1:36.1	The journal Sean McLean joins us now with more.
1:39.2	Why is it significant that they've put Peter DeSantis in this AI role?
1:43.8	You describe him as sort of a celebrity figure within the company. Peter DeSantis in this AI role. You describe him as sort of a celebrity figure
1:46.0	within the company. Peter DeSantis is symbolic of a strategy change going on in AI. It's really a
	...

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