ANN ARBOR - Michigan lawmakers are beginning to publicly grapple with a question that until recently was playing out mostly behind closed doors: Can the state absorb a surge of massive data centers without straining the electric grid, raising rates for residents, or sidelining local communities? That question took center stage this week as a
DEARBORN - When Ford Motor Company says it cannot fill thousands of open mechanic jobs — even with wages that can approach six figures — the issue is not about people refusing to work. It is about whether workforce training systems are keeping pace with how work itself has changed. Ford CEO Jim Farley recently
CAMP GRAYLING - Michigan has been selected as a national training and testing hub for advanced military drones — a move that reflects not only the state’s growing role in defense technology, but also a fundamental shift in how wars are fought in the 21st century. The National All-Domain Warfighting Center (NADWC), anchored by Camp
LANSING — Michigan regulators are moving to overhaul how new high-voltage electric transmission lines are planned and approved, responding to mounting public pushback as the state’s power grid expands to meet rising demand — including from large-scale data centers. The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) approved new voluntary filing guidelines designed to strengthen public engagement,
SOUTHFIELD – Michigan Council of Women in Technology Foundation (MCWT) has named Anita Klopfenstein and Christine Shook as its new president and vice president, respectively. Their tech and leadership expertise will help advance MCWT as it continues to inspire and grow more girls and women in IT across the state. Anita Klopfenstein “This
SALINE TOWNSHIP — A proposed hyperscale data center tied to OpenAI has reignited controversy in Washtenaw County after township officials acknowledged a documentation mistake that added to public confusion over how the project was approved. The development — part of a broader national push to build massive computing infrastructure for artificial intelligence — is planned
How much power does a data center use? A single hyperscale data center typically consumes 300 to 500 megawatts of electricity — roughly the same as a small Michigan city. How big is the demand facing Michigan utilities? Consumers Energy has reported data center inquiries totaling more than 15 gigawatts of potential new demand. For
ANN ARBOR - The artificial intelligence boom has a physical footprint — and it’s far larger than most people realize. Behind every AI model and cloud service are massive data centers operating 24/7, consuming enormous amounts of electricity. Once invisible to consumers, these facilities are now reshaping power grids, utility planning, and political debates nationwide.
ANN ARBOR - A proposed $1.2 billion high-performance computing facility backed by the University of Michigan and Los Alamos National Laboratory has become the latest flashpoint in Michigan’s escalating backlash against data centers — a debate now centered as much on electric rates as on land use or environmental risk. The project, planned for Ypsilanti
DETROIT -If self driving cars were judged by promises alone, Michigan highways would have been filled with autonomous vehicles years ago. Instead, the state that built the modern auto industry has spent more than a decade quietly stress-testing a harder truth: getting a car to drive itself reliably, everywhere, and in all conditions is far
