How The AI Race is Driving an Energy Wild West

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Crude prices gain as President Trump says India plans to pause buying Russian oil. Plus, the Trump administration moves to weaponize the IRS in its campaign against left-leaning groups. And tech companies pushing for AI dominance are desperate for power. Lots of it.

Jennifer Hiller (0:37)

We're seeing a lot of different creative solutions out there, but what some tech companies and data center developers are doing is essentially building their own power on site and providing their own power plants.

Caitlin McCabe (0:50)

It's Thursday, October 16th. I'm Caitlin McCabe for The Wall Street Journal, and here's the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today. President Trump has authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela while floating the idea of land strikes inside the country as the US broadens its campaign against alleged drug trafficking. An administration official said the authorization allows the CIA to potentially take action against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, his government and drug traffickers. Asked by a reporter if the CIA would have the power to remove Maduro, Trump said it was a quote ridiculous question. A CIA spokesman declined to comment.

In a televised speech yesterday, Maduro appealed for peace, while lashing out at the CIA's involvement in past conflicts in Latin America.

SPEAKER_2 (1:51)

No war, just spit on the people in United States, please.

Caitlin McCabe (1:57)

Please, please, please. The announcement comes amid the biggest US military buildup in the Caribbean in decades, including fighter jets, Reaper drones and guided missile destroyers. The Trump administration is preparing sweeping changes at the Internal Revenue Service, the journal understands, that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily. Gary Shapley, a senior IRS official and advisor to Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, is drawing up a list of potential targets that includes major Democratic donors. It couldn't be determined on what grounds Shapley would seek to begin such an investigation. The effort coincides with a larger administration effort to probe left-leaning groups for helping finance organizations that the president says are stirring up political violence. Democrats say the effort is politically motivated and not based on real evidence. Shapley and the Treasury Department didn't answer questions about changes to the IRS criminal unit or desired targets. And the Supreme Court has signaled an openness to scaling back protections against racial discrimination in redistricting, potentially making it more difficult for minorities to elect candidates of their choice. The case stems from Louisiana's move to redraw the state's congressional map after the 2020 census. The justices heard arguments to reexamine when, if ever, it is permissible to take race into account in drawing electoral lines. Several conservative justices suggested that creating race-based congressional districts to ensure the election of minority-backed lawmakers might no longer be justified under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 If the Supreme Court now weakens or strikes down Section 2 of that act, states would not be bound by any limits in how they draw electoral districts.

Oil prices are heading higher this morning, reversing a recent stretch of declines after President Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him he plans to pause purchases of Russian oil. Our South Asia Bureau Chief Tripti Lahiri says the announcement could resolve trade tensions between Washington and New Delhi, which crescendoed in August when Trump imposed 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods, including an extra 25 percent levy to penalize the country's large Russian oil purchases.

Tripti Lahiri (4:22)

I think that the latest tweets and the phone calls between Modi and Trump show that things are improving and certainly if India could buy more US oil, that would help a lot. Modi and Trump have spoken twice in about the last three weeks. One of those occasions was when Modi called Trump to congratulate him for the Gaza deal. So things are improving and oil may be the way that they improve further.

Caitlin McCabe (4:46)

But Trump's statement yesterday may not be so straightforward. Tripti says India's foreign ministry issued a carefully worded statement following Trump's announcement.

Tripti Lahiri (4:56)

They began by saying that first and foremost India thinks about its energy purchases from the point of view of what is good for the Indian consumer. And that has been a stated rationale for why India started buying so much Russian oil when the war broke out and Russian oil became very cheap for India. Russia is the top provider of oil to India right now for almost nothing before the war. And so this has become a big bone of contention with the US. But the stance that India is taking that it is going to put the Indian consumer first, that doesn't actually totally contradict the idea that it could also start reducing the Russian oil purchases and maybe substitute that for US oil. So I think this carefully worded statement gives India the wiggle room to cover a lot of different actions. And that could be continuing to buy some Russian oil, but starting to buy more US oil and buy less Russian oil.