# @blackrock on YouTube

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://youtube.com/watch?v=Xxs3Lq0B7Hc
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/57029915-blackrock-youtube
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/bd3484bb34.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-02-20T11:07:14.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** BlackRock (@BlackRock) — https://gondola.cc/BlackRock

## Caption

Powering AI 2.0 is no longer just a technology story — it’s an energy and infrastructure story reshaping capital markets and the global economy. As artificial intelligence scales from training to real-world inference, electricity demand is accelerating at a pace few anticipated.

In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido is joined by Will Su from BlackRock’s Fundamental Equities Group to examine how Powering AI 2.0 is transforming utilities, natural gas markets, renewables, and nuclear power. With data centers expanding rapidly and gigawatt-scale facilities coming online, the AI build-out is driving a structural shift in U.S. electricity demand after more than a decade of stagnation.

Will explains why the energy sector sits at the center of AI investing. From the rise of “bring your own power” models to the growing role of natural gas as a dispatchable, scalable fuel source, the infrastructure required to support AI represents one of the largest capital investment cycles in modern history. The conversation also explores renewables, battery storage, and nuclear power — including the limits of restarts and the long timeline for new reactor construction.

00:00 AI’s Exponential Rise Meets the Power Grid Reality
00:56 Meet Will Su: Why the AI Boom Is an Energy Boom
02:05 From Tokens to ‘Yottaflops’: Why Smarter Models Need More Electricity
04:40 Training vs. Inference: The Next Wave of AI Power Demand
06:50 Data Centers at City Scale: How Big the Load Gets
11:03 Grid Bottlenecks & ‘Bring Your Own Power’ (BYOP)
13:11 Natural Gas Takes Center Stage: Speed, Scale, and LNG Tailwinds
16:19 Renewables Update: Solar Momentum, Wind Headwinds, and Batteries
19:30 Nuclear Power: Restarts, New Builds, and the Long Game to 2050
21:49 Can AI Invest? Man + Machine in Fundamental Research
23:38 Wrap-Up, Key Takeaways, and What’s Next on The Bid

👉 Subscribe to The Bid podcast playlist for more insights from BlackRock experts: https://1blk.co/48iHOs4 
🎧 Subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/56rc5KHG6Btk19lEAmw7I2

🔗 Follow Us on LinkedIn: https://1blk.co/3v09q6Q 
🔗 Follow Us on Twitter (or X): https://1blk.co/3NuiIOW

#poweringAI #aiinvesting #utilities #infrastructure 

Sources: “From CES 2026 to Yottaflops: Why the AMD Keynote Highlights a Turning Point for AI Compute”, AMD 2026; “The Industrial Revolution, coal mining, and the Felling Colliery Disaster”, Lancaster University, 2026; Bureau of Economic Analysis data 2026; “Stargate's First Data Center Site is Size of Central Park, With At Least 57 Jobs”, Bloomberg 2026; “Energy Demand from AI”, IEA 2026; “Scaling bigger, faster, cheaper data centers with smarter designs”, McKinsey 2025; EEI 2024 Review; “Data Centers Ditching the Power Grid, Mark Carney's Viral Speech, and Some Joy”, Clearview Energy; “2024 North American Energy Inventory”, IER;

This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to any company or investment strategy mentioned is for illustrative purposes only and not investment advice.  For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures.

## Stats

- **Views:** 2,802
- **Likes:** 0
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 0

## Tags

poweringai, aiinvesting, infrastructure, utilities

---
Copyright (c) Gondola