Welcome back to Daily Zaps, your regularly-scheduled dose of AI news ⚡️ 

Here’s what we got for ya today:

• 👾 One million GPU supercomputer

• 🏭 Only 6.1% of U.S. businesses use AI

• 🧞‍♂️ Grok-2 chatbot free for X users

• 🛢️ Exxon + Chevron + AI data centers

Let’s get right into it!

Sign Up | Advertise | Tools

STARTUPS

One million GPU supercomputer

xAI is significantly expanding its Colossus supercomputing cluster in Memphis, aiming to house over one million Nvidia GPUs, up from the current 100,000. This would make Colossus one of the largest supercomputing systems globally, dwarfing other systems like El Capitan and Frontier. The expansion, touted as the region's largest capital investment, has drawn key partners like Nvidia, Dell, and Supermicro to establish operations in Memphis.

However, the project has faced criticism from environmental groups over alleged unpermitted gas turbine operations at the site. Colossus powers training for xAI’s Grok models, including the upcoming Grok 3, which Musk claims could rival OpenAI’s GPT-5.

See video below about existing 100k GPU datacenter that was built in 122 days.

BUSINESS

Only 6.1% of U.S. businesses use AI

New research from Goldman Sachs reveals that only 6.1% of U.S. businesses use AI for their products or services, a slight increase from 5.9% in the previous quarter. Finance and insurance sectors lead in adoption, while industries like information, manufacturing, and education show declines. Large firms (250+ employees) report a 10% adoption rate, with growth expected in the next six months. Despite AI’s potential to boost productivity by up to 30%, many companies, especially SMBs, struggle with cybersecurity concerns and achieving meaningful ROI.

CFOs report declining confidence in AI's financial impact, with only 13% seeing strong ROI, down from 27% in March. However, SMBs have doubled their adoption rate, encouraged by automation benefits like time savings and risk reduction. Generative AI investment continues to grow, with the semiconductor industry projected to see a 37% revenue increase next year.

STARTUPS

Grok-2 chatbot free for X users

Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, has announced that its latest chatbot, Grok-2, is now available for free to all users of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). REUTERS While all users can access Grok-2, Premium and Premium+ subscribers benefit from higher usage limits and will be the first to access new features in the future.

xAI has been quietly testing this new version over the past few weeks, aiming to enhance user experience with faster performance, improved accuracy, better instruction-following, and multilingual support.

BIG OIL

Exxon + Chevron + AI data centers

Exxon Mobil and Chevron are entering the AI data center energy market, betting that natural gas will meet the tech industry's growing power demands more reliably than renewables or nuclear energy. Exxon plans to build a natural gas plant with carbon capture technology to reduce emissions by 90%, providing off-grid, low-carbon power for AI data centers.

The company sees this as a key growth area, estimating decarbonizing AI data centers could represent 20% of its carbon capture market by 2050. Chevron is similarly exploring natural gas-powered solutions, leveraging its expertise and infrastructure. While tech giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta have invested in wind, solar, and nuclear, Exxon argues that natural gas offers a faster, more scalable solution to AI’s immediate energy needs, positioning itself as a leader in this emerging sector.