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"I mean I haven't gone under the knife. It seems tempting," the 60-year-old admitted.

Trump AI Executive Order To Seek Early Access To Advanced Models

After Anthropic's 'Mythos' model sent shockwaves through the cybersecurity world due to its ability to find and exploit software vulnerabilities at breakneck speed, the Trump administration is reportedly on the cusp of issuing a much-discussed executive order that would encourage AI companies to provide information on their advanced models to the government before public release. 

Anthropic's Dario Amodei

According to Axios, the order - which could come as soon as this week - will outline plans for a voluntary framework - meaning companies can just ignore it - under which AI labs would share their models with the government at least 90 days before public release, while also giving access to certain critical infrastructure providers. 

Mythos and OpenAI's latest model, GPT-5.5-Cyber, have raised alarm bells both inside and outside government due to their ability to find and exploit software vulnerabilities with unprecedented speed. 

The EO will also cover cybersecurity, and "aims to secure the Pentagon and other national security agencies, boost cyber hiring, shore up cybersecurity systems across the country at places like hospitals and banks, and encourage threat sharing about breaches between the AI industry and government."

The component covering the advanced 'frontier' models such as Mythos would involve multiple layers of government review to see if it qualifies as a "covered frontier model," and then assess them prior to public release.

The voluntary 90-day pre-release sharing framework lets the government:

• Review models early via national security and civilian agencies.
• Assess risks.
• Advise labs or critical infrastructure providers.
• Prepare defenses if needed.

This gives the White House situational awareness on what's coming down the pike, without trying to outright regulate or slow U.S. AI companies (which would contradict the administration's "America first / global dominance" stance on AI).

In short: It signals "we want to keep an eye on the dangerous models" to the public and adversaries, builds relationships for threat intel, and keeps the U.S. competitive. Whether companies actually engage will depend on norms, pressure, and self-interest. If the final version (expected soon) adds more carrots/sticks, its teeth could sharpen.

Tyler Durden Wed, 05/20/2026 - 14:45

Data Centers Could Be 33% Of Commercial Building Electricity Use By 2050: EIA

By Diana DiGangi of UtilityDive

The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects that data centers will “increasingly skew more energy intensive” and that electricity consumed by them will increase across all commercial building stock, with their servers growing to make up an estimated 22% to 33% of commercial building electricity use by 2050, according to an April report.

In its 2026 Annual Energy Outlook, EIA modeled various scenarios to explore how much data centers might drive demand in the medium and long term. In its high electricity demand scenario, the agency assumed “growth in the installed stock of AI servers follows an exponential trend through 2050” and didn’t make any assumptions about increases in computational efficiency beyond historical trends. 

"These assumptions lead data center server energy use alone to grow to 818 billion kilowatt hours in 2050 in the High Electricity Demand case,” EIA said. “Server electricity consumption in 2050 is more than 16 times that in 2020.”

In its counterfactual base case, EIA models how “U.S. and world energy markets would operate through 2050 under laws and regulations in force as of December 2025,” but said that this “should not be regarded as the most likely of the cases.”

EIA projects that electricity consumption in the U.S. will continue to grow through 2050 at an annual rate of 0.9% to 1.6%, “with data center server energy use a major factor,” after the previous five years saw a 2.1% average annual demand increase, which followed 15 years of nearly flat demand.

“Energy use in commercial buildings, home to data center activity, grows more rapidly than in the residential or industrial sectors in all modeled cases,” the report said. In a Tuesday release, EIA noted that “across all cases, servers alone accounted for an estimated 7% of commercial sector electricity consumption in 2025.”

In both EIA’s high electricity demand scenario and its counterfactual base case, the commercial sector’s electricity intensity — measured in kilowatt hours of electricity consumed per square foot — eventually exceeds the 2003 historical high of 14.9 kWh per square foot for the first time in either 2031 or 2032, depending on the scenario.

In its counterfactual base case, EIA projects that “after 2040, servers will become increasingly efficient, resulting in a 10% reduction in average annual operational power draw every three years, above and beyond historical efficiency trends. However, continued growth in server installations drives overall consumption growth.”

Tyler Durden Wed, 05/20/2026 - 14:25

Warsh Faces Uphill Battle As FOMC Minutes Show Deeply-Divided Fed Against Easing Bias

Tl;dr: FOMC Minutes confirm a deeply-divided Fed with a hawkish bias as "majority" saw hike likely warranted, "many" preferred removing easing bias.

*  *  *

Since the last FOMC meeting (Powell's last), on April 29th, stocks and the dollar are up, bonds and gold are down and oil has swung violently in between...

Source: Bloomberg

Expectations for Fed action this year has surged hawkishly from a 20% chance of a single rate-cut to an almost 100% chance of a single rate-hike this week (before today's decline)...

Source: Bloomberg

And that hawkish shift has occurred as US macro data has dramatically surprised to the upside (with both growth and inflation data higher than expected)...

Source: Bloomberg

Today's FOMC minutes will be closely watched for further details surrounding the increasingly hawkish split within the Committee following the April meeting.

With three voters dissenting against retaining the easing bias - and Fedʼs Collins later suggesting she would have supported removing it too - markets will look to see how broad support was for removing the easing bias, particularly after Powell said more officials now view a hike just as likely as a cut.

So what did the Minutes show...?

Main headlines from the Minutes:

• *FED: VAST MAJORITY SAID INFLATION COULD STAY ELEVATED LONGER

• *FED: OFFICIALS SAID INFLATION, WAR COULD MEAN LONGER RATE HOLD

• *FED: OFFICIALS EXPECTED JOB MARKET TO STAY STABLE IN NEAR TERM

• *FED: MANY PREFERRED REMOVING EASING BIAS FROM STATEMENT

• *FED: MAJORITY SAW HIKE LIKELY WARRANTED IF INFLATION PERSISTS

• *FED: SEVERAL SAW RATE CUTS THIS YEAR IF INFLATION DISSIPATES

Inflation fears...

With regard to the outlook for monetary policy, participants generally judged that the continued elevated inflation readings together with uncertainty related to the duration and economic implications of the Middle East conflict could necessitate maintaining the current policy stance for longer than previously anticipated.

Several participants highlighted that it would likely be appropriate to lower the target range for the federal funds rate once there are clear indications that disinflation is firmly back on track or if solid signs emerge of greater weakness in the labor market.

A majority of participants highlighted, however, that some policy firming would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue to run persistently above 2 percent.

To address this possibility, many participants indicated that they would have preferred removing the language from the postmeeting statement that suggested an easing bias regarding the likely direction of the Committee’s future interest rate decisions.

Labor optimism...

Another factor supporting a more hawkish Fed outlook: improving signals from the labor market.

At the Fed's March meeting, officials' most recent data in hand was the ugly February jobs report.

At the time, many officials were worried that "labor market conditions appeared vulnerable to adverse shocks," per the March minutes.

But by their April meeting, Fed officials had their hands on the more upbeat March report, and most took the numbers as evidence of stabilization, according to the newly released April minutes.

After the April Fed meeting, the strong April jobs report released earlier this month added further evidence that the labor market may be finding its footing.

More hawkish-er...

The minutes from the Fed's April meeting show that a growing group of officials raised hawkish concerns as the Iran conflict lifted inflation.

At the central bank's previous meeting in March, a group of "some" participants had said there was a strong case for the Fed to give balanced guidance that its next move could be either a hike or cut, leaning against the status quo that an eventual cut was in the cards.

In April, this group grew to include "many" officials who would have preferred more neutral language in the policy statement.

Staff Economic Outlook

The staffs outlook for economic activity was slightly stronger than the one prepared for the March meeting.

Not too much new that we didn't get from the presser (or post-presser comments) but now it's confirmed that The Fed is deeply divided with the bottom line being that the dynamic disclosed from these Minutes may create challenges for incoming Chair Warsh, whose first meeting will be in June.

While Warsh has advocated lower rates, he may find limited support for a more dovish stance within the current Committee.

Additionally, Warsh has advocated for a tighter balance sheet policy. Last week, Fed Governor Barr argued that easing bank liquidity requirements to shrink the Fedʼs balance sheet would undermine financial stability and increase the Fedʼs market footprint. Barr said the 2023 banking stresses suggest liquidity requirements should rise, not fall. As such, traders will also watch the minutes for any discussion surrounding future balance sheet strategy alongside the debate over the easing bias.

On a side-note, when President Trump was asked today about the fact that the markets are now pricing in rate-hikes (and whether he thinks Warsh will deliver the lower rates that Trump has long demanded), his remarks were surprisingly placid.

"I'm going to let him do what he wants to do," Trump said.

"He's a very talented guy, he's going to be fine, he's going to do a good job."

Trump is seemingly giving Warsh some room to maneuver, implying that he may not immediately get the Powell treatment even if Warsh delivers a hawkish monetary policy message in his early months in office.

Read the full Minutes below

Tyler Durden Wed, 05/20/2026 - 14:05

Regulator Clears Environmental Review For Dow And X-energy Reactor Project

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has completed its environmental assessment for the Long Mott Generating Station, a proposed four-reactor Xe-100 project at Dow’s Seadrift, Texas site.

📆 #NRCNews: We've completed our environmental assessment of the proposed Long Mott Generating Station ahead of schedule. https://t.co/aQ2Lf548Lx pic.twitter.com/MznwpfQjTz

— NRC (@NRCgov) May 18, 2026

A Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) was issued after the review wrapped up in under a year.

The NRC has dramatically shortened review timelines across multiple advanced reactor projects in recent months. We have previously covered how the agency has cut license renewal times by roughly half and completed several first-of-a-kind reviews well ahead of historical norms.

"6–12 Months For Construction Permits" - The Nuclear Regulation Overhaul https://t.co/Zrsj6FTvy6

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 29, 2026

The Long Mott project is backed by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program (ARDP). The four reactors are intended to supply power to Dow’s large chemical manufacturing operations, with the potential for high-temperature process steam to be explored at a later stage. 

If completed, it would be among the first grid-scale advanced reactors dedicated to serving an industrial site in North America.

The project still faces a recent regulatory nuisance. In February, the NRC granted intervention to the San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper on a contention that Long Mott Energy, the Dow subsidiary developing the project, has not sufficiently demonstrated its financial qualifications.

The assertion is hard to take seriously. Dow is one of the largest chemical companies in the world, and X-energy counts Amazon among its major backers. Yet the financial qualifications issue will now proceed to a hearing.

Other contentions raised by Waterkeeper, including challenges related to the reactor design and environmental impacts, were rejected by the Board.

For now, the Long Mott project has cleared one of the more visible early hurdles. The financial qualifications hearing will likely result in dismissal, but not until after Waterkeeper has made every attempt possible to delay the project.

Tyler Durden Wed, 05/20/2026 - 14:00

Deposit $20, get $20 using the Polymarket promo code NYPMAX.

Sin City is about to be "Dynamite."

One of America’s once-dominant beer brands is being discontinued after more than 175 years.

Video showed the massive funnel of smoke twisting high into the sky above the blaze burning near Verona Road and Juniper Springs Road.

Castro and five co-defendants are also charged with four counts of murder and additional counts of destruction of aircraft in the Feb. 24, 1996, shootdown.

Kevin Canaan, 28, and Yennifer Tavarez-Cepeda, 25, are accused of abusing their newborn son in a private room at the Tower Health Reading Hospital in Pennsylvania.

Southern Californians ready to swap traffic jams for splash zones this Memorial Day weekend are in luck.

The driver reportedly heard a woman's horrified screams outside the couple's front door and saw a woman covered in blood and a man holding a hammer inside.

Jet off to your next oasis — without getting ripped off.

Bezos Torches AOC, Says Billionaires "Earn Every Penny"

Jeff Bezos sat down for a wide-ranging interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning at a Blue Origin facility in Merritt Island, Florida - where he rattled off lots of thoughts, including how billionaires are made, slammed AOC, and opined on the relative impact of for-profit innovation versus charity, taxes, and bureaucratic inefficiency. 

On Wealth Creation and "Unearned" Billionaires

Bezos directly responded to criticism from figures like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), who has argued that accumulating $1 billion is inherently “unearned.” He rejected the notion with a straightforward analogy:

“Let me give you a simple example. Let’s say you start a burger joint, and you have 10 employees, and you make a little bit of money… Until you have - this is just one outlet. And by the way, these are the most delicious burgers in the world. People love your burgers, Andrew. And so then you open a second outlet… and now you’re making a little bit more money, and you have 20 employees. And you open a third outlet. By the time you’ve opened a thousand outlets, you are a billionaire… This is a real life story. It happens all the time. It’s In-N-Out Burger, it’s Raising Cane’s Chicken… The way you make a billion dollars, or a hundred million dollars, or 10 million dollars, or anything, is you create a service that people love. And if millions of people choose your service, you’re going to end up with a billion dollars… But your chicken has to be good.”

Jeff Bezos explains to @AOC how billionaires are created: providing at least a billion dollars in value to society -- the opposite of exploitation.

Bezos: "Let me give you a simple example. Let’s say you start a burger joint, and you have 10 employees, and you make a little bit… pic.twitter.com/qGjGdoJcbr

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) May 20, 2026 For-Profit Companies vs. Charitable Giving

Bezos argued that the societal impact of successful businesses far outweighs traditional philanthropy when done right:

“If I do my job right, the value to society and civilization from my for-profit companies will be much, much larger than the good that I do with my charitable giving.”

He pointed to customer testimonials, including letters from new mothers who relied on Amazon as an essential service—especially during the pandemic—and noted that innovations like fast delivery and broad access create broad-based value that philanthropy alone cannot match. Bezos added that he plans to give away the vast majority of his wealth during his lifetime.

Jeff Bezos: "If I do my job right, the value to society and civilization from my for-profit companies will be much, much larger than the good that I do with my charitable giving." pic.twitter.com/3svJ1onmAr

— CNBC (@CNBC) May 20, 2026 A Sharp Critique of Government Efficiency

In one of the most quoted lines of the interview, Bezos drew a stark contrast between Amazon’s operations and public-sector bureaucracy, using New York City’s school system as an example:

“If we ran Amazon the way New York City runs their school system, the packages would take 6 weeks to arrive, we would charge you a $100 delivery fee and when the package did finally arrive, it would have the wrong item in it anyway.”

Jeff Bezos said higher taxes on billionaires will not fix America’s fiscal problems arguing real issue is government spending.

He joked that if $AMZN ran like New York City schools then packages would take six weeks, cost $100 to deliver and still arrive with the wrong item. pic.twitter.com/CLCK4AgDU7

— Shay Boloor (@StockSavvyShay) May 20, 2026 Taxes, the “Tale of Two Economies,” and Fixing Root Causes

Bezos touched on tax policy and inequality, noting that the bottom half of earners pay only about 3% of all federal income taxes and arguing it “should be zero.”

“We shouldn’t be asking this nurse in Queens [making $75k] to send money to Washington. They should be sending her an apology.”

He described the current economy as a “tale of two economies,” where some thrive while others struggle, and urged policymakers to focus on root causes and skills development rather than “picking villains.”

🚨 Jeff Bezos just said what a lot of people are thinking.

💬 “It’s kind of absurd that we’re doing this… We shouldn’t be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington.”

The world’s wealthiest man calling out the tax burden on working Americans, on CNBC.

Whether you… pic.twitter.com/nLpg1W0tHn

— Invest Alpha Pro (@InvestAlphaPro) May 20, 2026

He criticized crony capitalism, corporate welfare, and loopholes, saying the system needs fixing at its foundation. On his own taxes, he noted he pays billions and that even doubling that wouldn’t solve broader fiscal issues.

Other Notable Takes

• AI and Innovation: Bezos expressed optimism, saying he’s not overly concerned about an AI bubble because even a correction would still drive healthy investment and productivity gains that could lead to abundance and address labor shortages.

Jeff Bezos says that AI will "elevate" people at work, not replace jobs. pic.twitter.com/sbtiSkvLXD

— CNBC (@CNBC) May 20, 2026

• The Washington Post: He defended recent changes at the paper, stressing it must be run as a profitable business, not a charity.
• Space and the Future: He highlighted Blue Origin’s work on data centers in space and lunar missions as realistic and exciting.

Bezos came across as measured and optimistic about American ingenuity while acknowledging real struggles for many workers. He repeatedly stressed accountability, customer value, and practical solutions over rhetoric.

Full interview here.

Tyler Durden Wed, 05/20/2026 - 13:30

The Department of Homeland Security is coming under pressure to sequester shipments of Labubu dolls coming into the US due to forced labor concerns.

The Utah mom was sentenced last week to life in prison for fatally poisoning her husband.

The Trump administration is planning to tell NATO allies that it will shrink the pool of US military capabilities available to assist the alliance's European nations in a major crisis, according to a report.

Vladimir Putin visited Xi Jinping in China at a summit in Beijing Wednesday, just days after Xi hosted President Trump.

Bill Belichick's 25-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson took another shot at CBS' Tony Dokoupil over his interview with the UNC football coach that went off the rails last April.