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How will we feed the 100s of GWs of extra energy demand that AI will create over the coming decade? On this episode, Casey Handmer (Caltech PhD, former NASA JPL, founder & CEO of Terraform Industries) walks me through how we can pull it off, and why he thinks a major part of this energy singularity will be powered by solar. His views are contrarian, but he came armed to defend them.
Watch on YouTube; listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
SPONSORS
- Lighthouse helps frontier technology companies like Cursor and Physical Intelligence navigate the U.S. immigration system and hire top talent from around the world. Lighthouse handles everything for you, maximizing the probability of visa approval while minimizing the work you have to do. Learn more at lighthousehq.com/employers
- To sponsor a future episode, visit dwarkesh.com/advertise.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00:00) – Why doesn’t China win by default?
(00:08:28) – Why hyperscalers choose natural gas over solar
(00:18:01) – Solar's astonishing learning rates
(00:27:02) – How to build 50,000 acre solar-powered data centers
(00:40:24) – Environmental regulations blocking clean energy
(00:44:04) – Batteries replacing the grid
(00:49:14) – GDP is broken, AGI's true value must be measured in total energy use
(00:58:45) – Silicon wafers in space with one mind each
By Dwarkesh Patel4.6
475475 ratings
How will we feed the 100s of GWs of extra energy demand that AI will create over the coming decade? On this episode, Casey Handmer (Caltech PhD, former NASA JPL, founder & CEO of Terraform Industries) walks me through how we can pull it off, and why he thinks a major part of this energy singularity will be powered by solar. His views are contrarian, but he came armed to defend them.
Watch on YouTube; listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
SPONSORS
- Lighthouse helps frontier technology companies like Cursor and Physical Intelligence navigate the U.S. immigration system and hire top talent from around the world. Lighthouse handles everything for you, maximizing the probability of visa approval while minimizing the work you have to do. Learn more at lighthousehq.com/employers
- To sponsor a future episode, visit dwarkesh.com/advertise.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00:00) – Why doesn’t China win by default?
(00:08:28) – Why hyperscalers choose natural gas over solar
(00:18:01) – Solar's astonishing learning rates
(00:27:02) – How to build 50,000 acre solar-powered data centers
(00:40:24) – Environmental regulations blocking clean energy
(00:44:04) – Batteries replacing the grid
(00:49:14) – GDP is broken, AGI's true value must be measured in total energy use
(00:58:45) – Silicon wafers in space with one mind each

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