If you’ve been watching the markets this morning, Sunday, January 18, 2026, things feel different. The "AI gold rush" has officially slammed into a brick wall. That wall isn't made of code or silicon. It’s made of steel, gas turbines, and copper wire.
Honestly, the business tech news today is dominated by a single, desperate realization: we are running out of power to run the future. While we were all busy arguing about whether a chatbot could write a decent poem, the tech giants were quietly panic-buying every megawatt of electricity they could find.
The Energy Land Grab You Weren't Expecting
Just look at what happened this Friday and into the weekend. The Trump administration basically threw a Hail Mary to keep the lights on. They’ve called for an emergency power auction to fast-track the construction of massive baseload power plants. We’re talking coal, gas, and nuclear.
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Why the rush? Because data centers are eating the grid.
Jefferies, the investment bank, just dropped a report suggesting this auction could trigger $15 billion in new plant construction. That's about 7.5 gigawatts of capacity. For context, one gigawatt can power roughly 750,000 homes. And the tech sector needs all of it.
The Turbine Shortage
You’ve heard of the chip shortage. Get ready for the turbine shortage. GE Vernova is reportedly sold out of gas turbines through 2028. If you want a turbine to power your new AI cluster, you’re looking at a 2029 delivery date.
Lead times for gas plants have ballooned from 3.5 years to 5 years since 2023. Costs are up nearly 50%. This isn't just a "tech problem" anymore. It’s an infrastructure crisis that’s hitting every corner of business tech news today.
Realism Replaces the Hype
Capgemini just released a report that basically says the "AI honeymoon" is over. They surveyed over 1,500 executives, and the vibe is shifting from "What can AI do?" to "How do we make it actually pay for itself?"
Only 38% of organizations are actually running generative AI at scale. The rest? They’re still kicking the tires.
Gartner is doubling down on this "Trough of Disillusionment" narrative. They’re predicting worldwide AI spending will hit $2.5 trillion in 2026, but—and this is a big but—it won't be from "moonshot" projects. Most of that money is going to incumbent software providers like SAP and Microsoft because businesses are too scared to build their own stuff from scratch.
They want proven ROI. They want "green" budgets.
Take the city of Antibes in France. They’re using SAP’s Business AI to manage a 6,000-line budget to meet strict environmental laws. This isn't flashy robot stuff. It's boring, effective procurement. That is where the real money is moving right now.
The "Great Turnover" is Hitting the Workforce
If you’re looking for a job in tech, the news is... complicated.
Meta just cut another 1,000 workers, mostly in its Reality Labs division. It turns out the "Metaverse" is still a massive money pit—losing $17.7 billion in 2024 alone. Mark Zuckerberg is shifting that cash toward AI wearables instead.
But here’s the kicker: companies are starting to use AI as a PR shield for layoffs.
A study from Resume.org found that 59% of companies frame layoffs as "AI-driven" because it sounds better to shareholders than admitting they just messed up their finances. It’s a cynical move. They call it "workforce rebalancing."
The truth? They’re firing in slow-growth areas and "hiring aggressively" for people who actually know how to use these new tools.
What Skills Actually Matter Now?
- Agentic AI Management: Can you oversee a "swarm" of AI agents doing retail browsing or data crunching?
- Problem-Solving: 54% of hiring managers say this is their top priority.
- Human-AI Chemistry: It sounds like a buzzword, but it’s basically about how well you can steer a tool without it hallucinating.
Infrastructure is the New Software
We’re seeing a massive pivot in how data centers are built. Microsoft’s CTO Mark Russinovich is talking about "AI superfactories." This isn't just about bigger buildings; it’s about packing computing power more densely because we literally can’t build enough data centers to keep up with demand.
In Honolulu this week, at the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC '26), the talk isn't about apps. It's about subsea cables and "Atlantic Data Rings."
BIG Fiber just announced an expansion into San Jose to support the "AI Supercycle." Even companies like Castle Group in Australia are pivoting to "powered land," securing 1.5GW of grid capacity because the land itself is worthless if you can't plug a server into it.
The Bottom Line
The business tech news today tells us that the "magic" phase of AI is ending. We are entering the "industrial" phase. It’s expensive, it’s power-hungry, and it’s forcing every C-suite executive to rethink their 5-year plan.
If you’re a business owner or a tech professional, you can't just wait for the next software update. You have to look at the physical constraints.
Actionable Next Steps
- Audit Your Energy Exposure: If your business relies on local data centers, check their power agreements. Electricity prices are likely to spike as tech firms bid on "emergency" power.
- Focus on "Agentic" Tools: Stop looking for AI that just "writes text." Look for agentic AI that can handle multi-step workflows, like the retail agents Google is currently rolling out.
- Reskill for Reliability: The market is tired of "creative" AI. It wants reliable, governed AI. Focus your team’s training on AI governance and "human-in-the-loop" verification systems.
- Watch the Earnings: Apple, Hologic, and Digi International are all reporting later this month. Pay attention to how much they’re spending on "AI foundations" versus actual consumer products.
The shift from software to "hard" infrastructure is the most important trend of 2026. The companies that survive won't just have the best algorithms—they'll have the best power supply.