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Global Impact
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EPA keeps AI data-center air rules with states while health models rise
EPA's Sept. 14, 2026, Clean Air Act data-center page stresses cooperative federalism and state and local permitting rather than a new nationwide AI air standard, while an Environmental Protection Network report covered by The New York Times cites modeled 2028 health costs of roughly $11.7 billion to $20.9 billion a year.
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Waymo opens public robotaxi rides in Las Vegas as its 15th market
Waymo said on Sept. 14, 2026, that it is inviting public riders onto fully autonomous trips in Las Vegas, starting with dozens of Ojai minivans on a roughly 24-mile Strip-to-Boulder Junction footprint after Nevada Transportation Authority approval.
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Anthropic Institute maps AI growth and labor scenarios through 2030
The Anthropic Institute's Economic Scenarios for Transformative AI framework shows 2030 U.S. paths in which GDP finishes 1.6% to 32.4% above a no-AI baseline while extreme knowledge-worker displacement can coexist with rapid growth; the authors attach no probabilities and label the paths scenarios, not forecasts.
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FDA classifies cardiovascular machine-learning notification software as Class II
FDA's Sept. 11, 2026 Federal Register order puts cardiovascular machine learning-based notification software in Class II under 21 CFR 870.2380, codifying the 2023 Viz HCM De Novo so similar tools can pursue 510(k) with special controls.
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EIA forecasts record US electricity sales in 2026 and 2027 as data centers lift load
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its Sept. 9, 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook that U.S. electricity sales will reach 4,135 billion kilowatthours in 2026 and 4,211 BkWh in 2027, driven by data-center development and manufacturing even as Texas pauses new data-center grid connections for an audit.
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Google commits €13 billion to Finland AI infrastructure with nuclear power deal
Google said on Sept. 9, 2026, that it will invest at least €13 billion in Finland digital infrastructure over 2027 and 2028, pairing new data centers with a 22-year Fortum nuclear power purchase agreement.