The Friday Download: AI’s Price Tag, Power Grid Reality, and the Week Artificial Intelligence Got Very Real (December 19, 2025)

This episode of The Friday Download breaks down confirmed developments from the past week in artificial intelligence. We explore the growing energy and water demands of AI data centers, supported by recent academic research and industry disclosures, and why inference costs now rival training expenses. We examine public statements from major technology leaders confirming that long-term AI competitiveness requires tens to hundreds of billions in infrastructure investment. The episode also explains why many companies are moving away from the term “AGI” in favor of less loaded language, without abandoning advanced AI goals.

On the positive side, we highlight verified improvements in AI reasoning capabilities, the rise of AI-assisted research tools that improve data accessibility, and real-world deployments of AI in healthcare for clini ...