ASHBURN, Va. – A test server hall tucked inside America's "data center alley" offers a rare firsthand look inside the AI boom.

Why it matters: Seeing how AI is physically made helps sharpen our understanding of the unprecedented data center buildout that is becoming increasingly unpopular around the country.

Behind the scenes: I recently toured an innovation lab by Digital Realty in Northern Virginia, home to the world's largest concentration of data centers.

• Digital Realty is one of the world's oldest and most established data center operators.
• The lab, which opened in September, allows the company to test new technologies and show visitors — like customers, lawmakers and journalists — what it's like to be inside.
• A similar one opened in London in June.

Inside the room: I was immediately hit with what I can only describe as "demented white noise."

• The sound comes from fans cooling racks of AI chips that generate enormous amounts of heat.
• It felt like standing inside one giant computer. Even beneath my feet, a glass floor revealed pipes and other infrastructure helping keep the servers cool.

Zoom in: At the bottom of one of the closet-sized racks sat a gold-colored Nvidia AI system packed with multiple AI chips.

• The gold is intentional — but not real. "Gold is associated with high value and performance," Nvidia spokesperson Kira Sarkisian said by email.
• "That's about $1 million right there," said my tour guide, Digital Realty engineer Tor Nyström, referring to the entire rack.

Reality check: Getting inside a data center is not easy.

• Some companies flatly declined my request for a tour, while others require signing a non-disclosure agreement to get inside the walls of a campus (server halls are typically off-limits altogether).

Friction point: This type of secrecy is part of what's fueling the backlash against data centers, alongside strains on electricity and local water supplies.

My thought bubble: Digital Realty let me photograph its innovation lab and tour a nearby campus under construction. I came away convinced companies can show the public how these facilities work without revealing proprietary information.

Zoom out: After the tour of the test server hall, we drove a few miles to what Digital Realty calls its Digital Dulles campus, which could eventually include 13 data centers with an investment north of $10 billion over the next decade.

Stunning stat: I counted almost 40 diesel generators hooked up to one data center building.

• Digital Realty spokesperson Kevin Gundersen said those are only used for backup power purposes and occasional testing, so they aren't on most of the time.
• Normally, the campus draws power from the broader electricity grid. In Virginia, that's largely natural gas and nuclear power.

See more photos and the full story here.

Brent crude oil is up again this morning following overnight reports that Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked Saudi Arabian tankers in the Red Sea.

Why it matters: The war's expansion into another waterway brings fresh supply risks, and comes amid the collapse of the U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

The bottom line: "The Houthi entry into the conflict has the potential to expand the war's supply losses by reducing the effectiveness of the East-West pipeline offset route," RBC Capital Markets' Helima Croft said in a note.

Electricity generation from renewable sources is on track to surpass coal-fired power this year, the International Energy Agency finds.

Why it matters: It's a seeming inflection point that shows renewables' rapid growth — and it has climate consequences.

• IEA sees carbon emissions from electricity rising 1% in 2026 and then flattening out next year.
• Hydropower remains the largest renewables source, but solar is rising fast.

Yes, but: The emissions path — in the power sector and more widely — is far off track from the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 2°C above preindustrial levels.

• The more ambitious 1.5°C target has already slipped away.

Zoom out: IEA's out with a wider report today projecting that global electricity demand will grow 3.6% in 2026 and then rise to 3.8% in 2027, up from 3% last year.

What we're watching: Putting more intermittent wind and solar onto grids creates challenges.

• Solar photovoltaics and wind together are projected to be one-fifth of global generation in 2027.

The bottom line: Grid modernization, higher system flexibility, and more efficient use of existing infrastructure "will become increasingly important," the report states.

There's a lot of angst over the new U.S.-Saudi Arabia pact yesterday to help spur Saudi development of nuclear power — because of what it could mean for weapons development.

Why it matters: The Energy Department called it a multibillion-dollar partnership that will expand U.S. technology exports.

• The text itself is not immediately available.

What they're saying: Some analysts and Democrats say the agreement — which reportedly could enable Saudi uranium enrichment — could pave the way for weapons development and a regional nuclear arms race.

• "Granting the Saudis the right to make nuclear fuel after what Iran has done is like trying to put out a fire with kerosene," Henry D. Sokolski, head of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, tells the NYT.
• "This agreement will set off a nuclear race in the region, further disincentivizing Iran from limiting its own program," posted Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who is active on foreign policy. But Democrats lack votes to thwart it, Semafor reports.

The latest: President Trump said today that there will be no uranium enrichment under the agreement.

• His post on Truth Social also said the deal is subject to Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, the series of U.S.-brokered agreements to normalize relations between Israel and various Arab states.

State of play: Energy Secretary Chris Wright, in a statement, said the agreement would "uphold the highest standards of nuclear safety and nonproliferation."

• The Atlantic Council's Jennifer T. Gordon calls it a win for U.S.-led nonproliferation — and said the Saudis have made clear they intend to begin a civil nuclear program with or without the U.S.

"[T]he only question has been whether the kingdom would choose to work with the US and its allies, or whether it would turn to Russia or China," writes Gordon, who leads the think tank's Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative.

Go deeper: Here are more views via Columbia University's energy think tank and others at the Atlantic Council.

⚔️ The EU's plan to delay noncompliance penalties with methane emissions rules on gas imports will not end U.S. pressure on the bloc to back off the standards, which Trump officials and other critics call unworkable and a threat to supply.

• Friction point: "The European Commission's non-binding guidance does little to address the fundamental risks and uncertainty created by the law. ... We continue to call for an implementation delay and targeted modifications that will preserve Europe's energy security now, and in the future," the Energy Department said in a statement to Axios.
• Catch up quick: The commission this week recommended that EU member states waive noncompliance penalties for three years, and create other flexibilities.

⚛️ The Interior Department's offshore energy arm and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are formally working together on potential deployment of nuclear energy in U.S. waters.

📃 House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R) floated draft permitting legislation, with E&E News noting that he's "looking to remind the Senate of the House's role in permitting reform talks."

That's how much Persian Gulf oil could bypass the Strait of Hormuz by 2030, up from 7-ish now, per a Eurasia Group note that sees even more additions of bypass capacity arriving in the 2030s.

Why it matters: The political risk consultancy's note underscores how analysts see the Iran crisis bringing a wave of new investment in projects that avoid the vulnerable chokepoint.

• Pipelines are a focus, but the buildout will also extend to port infrastructure, rail systems and roads, it states.

The bottom line: By 2030, flows of oil through the strait will be less than half of prewar levels, Eurasia projects.