Trump-branded AI data center megaproject stalls, CEO departs

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: msn/Axios

3h


The world's largest data center project — backed by Trump allies and bearing his name — is stalled by delays and logistical hurdles that could stop it before it even starts.

The latest sign of trouble emerged Friday: CEO Toby Neugebarger abruptly departed. That sent the company's shares, which already shed 75% in the last six months, plummeting in aftermarket trading.

Why it matters: Fermi America, co-founded by President Trump's former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is emerging as a high-profile test of whether the biggest, most ambitious AI infrastructure projects can deliver on their promises.

Behind the scenes: In an interview with Axios on Thursday, Neugebarger defended the project while acknowledging some shortcomings. He gave no indication that his departure was imminent.

Neugebauer told Axios he may have been naive about how complex these projects are to put together, particularly the cooling systems that are essential to cool the AI chips.

Pushing back on the line of questioning, he said he may have "misunderstood where the supply chain is" for cooling equipment: "I will accept that as a failure."

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/trump-branded-ai-data-center-megaproject-stalls-ceo-departs/ar-AA21eqha

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When this AI bubble bursts, it'll make the "dot-com" bubble-bursting look like a walk in the park.

And this -

Fermi America, co-founded by President Trump's former Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is emerging as a high-profile test of whether the biggest, most ambitious AI infrastructure projects can deliver on their promises.

Rick Perry, your quintessential Rhinestone Cowboy.

[UpInArms]

1. Governor Goodhair, as our dear departed Molly Ivins called him

is all hat and no cattle

[tanyev]

2. Oops.

[paleotn]

3. A scam within a larger scam.

[AllaN01Bear]

7. and more scams.

[Hugin]

4. Every yeehaw wants a data center...

Not one of them can tell you what a data center is or does. They just want one.

I have dubbed it ”The Petered Out Principle”.

[ultralite001]

5. ETTD...

Even the name is toxic…

[ToxMarz]

6. If Rick Perry is the face and front man of the operation

Can only imagine how little substance there is if you scratch below the surface.

[FakeNoose]

8. It takes a ridiculous amount of power to run these AI data centers

If the data centers themselves had to pay their own utility bills, they would never, ever make a profit. Most would go out of business immediately. But they manage to get "deals" that involve the local taxpayers footing the bills for these AI data centers, thanks to corruption at the local and state levels. (Not to mention heat and water pollution.)

Now that word has gotten out how awful these things are for the local citizens, nobody wants them in their backyard.

[slightlv]

15. This is why I've been saying they should be

one of the main campaign data points for Democrats this year. People are sick and tired of AI and of data centers and the costs centered around both, both in real hits to their bank accounts, the people knocked out of jobs, and the harm done to the planet. It's an emotional data point with facts to back up the emotions that we could truly use to our advantage -- just like the repugs do all the time. But the only ones "hurt" by our facts are the billionaires who are trying to hurt us more, first.

[FakeNoose]

16. I absolutely agree!

The blue cities are hip to this nonsense and will always vote them down. But the red rural counties probably have no clue and are more likely believe the Faux Noise BS.

[slightlv]

17. And alas, I'm in one of those red, rural counties.

I speak out when and where ever I can. Just today, I let my voice slip quite a bit above a whisper - and at WalMart, too! I don't care who hears me anymore. I'll dialog, heck.. I'll even yell... with anyone who wants to get into it with me. I've got facts, figures, examples, and personal experiences to back me up. They don't. They have maga talking points; everyone of which I'll bet I can knock down in 2 sentences or less! (LOL)

[progree]

9. More natural gas-fired generation being developed to power US data centers than California's entire generating capacity

from all sources combined.

Nearly 100 gigawatts ((100,000 MW -progree)) of natural-gas fired power are currently in development throughout the US solely to power data centers

This is a horrendous number. Catastrophic.

For scale, Hunter posted at about noon Pacific Time Thursday that California is using 27,000 MW of power (from all sources) at the moment. California is the 4th largest economy in the world, larger than Japan's.

In 2024, California had an in-state electric power generating capacity from all sources of 89,000 MW. -- https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/electric-generation-capacity-and-energy

About 39,000 of that is from fossil fuel (38,576 MW of natural gas and 351 MW of oil)

https://www.wired.com/story/a-new-google-funded-data-center-will-be-powered-by-a-massive-gas-plant/

As data center developers face lengthy wait times to connect to electricity grids and rising concerns over consumer electric bills, they’re increasingly turning to building their own energy, or what’s known as behind-the-meter power. For these projects, gas is king; data centers are now driving a US boom in natural gas. Nearly 100 gigawatts ((100,000 MW -progree)) of natural-gas fired power are currently in development throughout the US solely to power data centers, according to research ( https://www.wired.com/story/data-centers-are-driving-a-us-gas-boom/ ) published by the nonprofit Global Energy Monitor in January.

Per the Global Energy Monitor research, there are at least 15 projects in development across the US that are larger than the Goodnight campus. Several of these projects have only just been announced or are still in the development phase, and have not yet filed air permits detailing just how much greenhouse gases they will emit. But the numbers that have been made public are jaw-dropping: . . . ((a couple examples given -progree))

Emphasis added by Progree

=====================================================
Another equivalence that might be more relatable --

The amount of natural-gas-fired generation in development just to power near-future U.S. data centers is equivalent, in greenhouse gas emissions, to adding 100 MILLION ADDITIONAL gasoline-fueled cars to the roads. All that mostly just for AI and cryptocurrency mining.

[progree]

10. Follow the money: Fellow co-founder Griffin Perry -- the son of Rick Perry -- reduced his stake by roughly 11 million shar

Follow the money:
Fellow co-founder Griffin Perry — the son of Rick Perry — reduced his stake by roughly 11 million shares, about a 15% cut, according to an April 15 SEC filing.

Energy writer Robert Bryce pointed to that sale and struggles in a Substack post last week.

"Given these facts, it may not be surprising that some Fermi insiders, including one of the company's founders, are selling significant amounts of their stock," wrote Bryce, who also said a few other company executives sold far fewer shares compared to Perry.

Perry couldn't be immediately reached for comment when messaged on LinkedIn. Axios couldn't confirm why he sold his stock or whether other company insiders sold shares.

For Mother Jones subscribers (maybe everyone can access it, I haven't checked), there is an article in the May/June issue on the scale of the AI infrastructure developments. I'm only about 1/4 of the way into it.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. I sub to Mother Jones (digital edition)

and I think the article you are talking about is this -

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/american-oligarchy-hyperscale-data-centers-meta-openai-oracle-x-musk-altman-zuckerberg-bezos/

(their website is weird not really having a link for subscribers to sign in)

[progree]

12. Another one in that issue is about Valar Atomics, which is working on small modular reactors

and the founder's ties to Christian Nationalism and political ties .. and how dubious their reactor is

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/02/the-trump-administrations-favorite-nuclear-startup-has-ties-to-russia-and-epstein/

The Trump Administration’s Favorite Nuclear Startup Has Ties to Russia and Epstein
Also, Christian nationalism.
Kiera Butler May+June 2026 Issue

While looking for more info on them, I found this:

https://neutronbytes.com/2026/02/28/questions-abound-about-valar-atomics/

it has updates up thru 4/16/26!! It summarizes the Mother Jones article at length and has updates to that. It also criticizes Oklo and Last Energy, two other small modular reactor developers, and their publicity stunts.

As for what this has got to do with data centers, there is a lot of giddy bubbly about small modular reactors providing a lot of the electricity needed, but nothing I've seen has impressed me so far. There was a lot of giddy bubbly about it back when I was young.

I'm sure you've seen my posts in this thread about most new data center electricity coming from natural gas. In huge quantities.

[BumRushDaShow]

14. One of the obvious issues with reactors

is cooling (which usually means being near a water source). So even considering that for power generation seems to compound the cooling problem, particularly in drought areas (I guess unless the reactor is set up at either of the poles).

I used to overclock CPUs in some of the machines I used to run SETI@Home and cooling was always the number one issue to tackle!

[ProfessorGAC]

13. At This Point, What Possible Benefit..

...could a company derive by attaching "Trump" to their brand.
He's one of the least popular people in the country.
These business leaders are not thinking thus through. There is no business advantage to putting his name on their ventures.