TNB Tech Minute: Money Still Flows Into Artificial Intelligence
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Here's your TNB Tech Minute for Thursday, April 10th. I'm Victoria Craig for The Wall Street Journal. It was another volatile day on Wall Street. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite shed 4% today after notching its biggest gain in more than two decades yesterday.

Worries about the impact of President Trump's tariffs continue to roil the market, but they're not forcing America's tech titans to reverse course on AI investing just yet. Amazon's CEO wrote in his annual shareholder letter today that he sees AI as a once-in-a-lifetime reinvention of everything we know and that the world will benefit from investing aggressively today.

now. That sentiment was echoed by Google parent Alphabet's chief executive, who in a keynote speech doubled down on plans to spend $75 billion on AI this fiscal year. But what will power that AI investment? One forecast predicts more energy than the entire nation of Japan consumes. That's according to the International Energy Agency, which sees demand for AI-optimized facilities quadrupling by 2030.

Data centers are predicted to be one of the fastest-growing sources of emissions. But to meet rising demand, natural gas and emerging technologies will likely be tapped. By the end of the next decade, the U.S. is believed to consume more electricity for AI than for aluminum, steel, cement, and chemical production combined.

Elsewhere, Block, which is the parent company of Cash App and Square, will pay a $40 million settlement to New York's financial services department. The agency alleged that the fintech company didn't maintain effective programs to prevent money laundering. An investigation also found Lack's practices allowed largely anonymous high-risk Bitcoin transactions without proper oversight.

Block said the settlement resolved matters primarily related to Cash App's past compliance program. It didn't admit to any of the agency's findings. For a deeper dive into what's happening in tech, check out Friday's Tech News Briefing podcast.

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