Today’s theme: ‘Damn the Torpedoes’ — the famous order from the Union Admiral David Farragut, at the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864. Facing a sea of Confederate mines: “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead”. It comes to mind this week in the AI Tech Wave, where OpenAI, Anthropic and Elon’s SpaceXAI each boosted their AI-data-center plans — full speed ahead indeed — despite rising investor concerns about the rate of spending versus the rate of return, and the regulatory backlash to data centers around the country. Three events, each with my Take, then my Overall Take. Plus a Gadget AI on Samsung’s new folding phones 8 Series, amid ‘RAMageddon,’ and two questions. Let’s get started.

(1) OpenAI Expands Its AI-Data-Center Plans Ahead of a Mega-AI IPO

MP TAKE: OpenAI just put out a new number: $750 billion as its total planned compute — a meaningful increase from the $600 billion figure, which itself was a retracement from the ~$1 trillion Sam Altman floated about a year ago. And Axios details a 3.2-gigawatt data center in Savannah, Georgia. Recall the rough math: about $50 billion per gigawatt of data center and power today (ideally before the meter, so it doesn’t hit local utility prices) — and Jensen Huang himself has said that number could climb toward $100 billion per gigawatt over the next couple of years as compute density rises from Blackwell chips to Vera Rubin. These are fast-moving numbers in either direction.

For now, OpenAI is pedal to the metal — announcing bigger numbers ahead of its anticipated mega-AI IPO next year. It’s almost a signaling mechanism, not just to the markets but to its entire peer group: Microsoft, Amazon, Google, the very aggressive Meta, and Elon’s SpaceX-Tesla union. An omnidirectional yell of damn the torpedoes — and for now, investors in both private and public markets are leaning in, not out.

Sources, in narrative order: WSJ — OpenAI’s Planned Cloud Spending Hits $750 Billion; Axios — OpenAI Plans 3.2-Gigawatt Data Center in Georgia; Axios — OpenAI Says Hugging Face Breach Caused by One of Its Models. For longtime readers: ‘Anthropic and OpenAI now half of $2 trillion in Cloud Company backlogs’ in AI-RTZ #1079.

(2) Anthropic Signs a $10-Billion-Plus Partnership with AMD

MP TAKE: Anthropic has generally been more prudent on AI-data-center compute, thanks to its laser focus on the enterprise and AI-coding market — its runaway Claude Code, Cowork and Fable 5 success. But it’s accelerating too. On top of a $40 billion-plus compute deal with SpaceX earlier, this week it signed a $10 billion-plus partnership with AMD as a second source of AI-GPU supply. AMD does one of these circular investments — roughly $5 billion back into Anthropic — in exchange for the $10B+ chip contract, presumably feeding Anthropic’s own data centers. The rumblings: Anthropic may also bring on Meta, renting capacity at premium prices, likely $10 billion or more.

The approach has worked. Anthropic has essentially become the Pepsi that outran Coke over the last year — running at a $60 billion-plus annualized run rate, up from five or six billion the year before. That kind of growth needs a lot of compute and a lot more chips, and this is the move that advances it — another damn the torpedoes moment, this time relative to its finances, ahead of its own mega-AI IPO expected this year.

Sources, in narrative order: WSJ — AMD and Anthropic Sign Major Chips and Investment Deal. For longtime readers: ‘AMD’s Helios up against Nvidia’s Vera Rubin and beyond’ in AI-RTZ #1154.

(3) Elon Expands SpaceX-AI’s AI Data Centers into Texas

MP TAKE: I talked yesterday about the backlash Elon has gotten from the big success of his Colossus 1 and 2 data-center ramps in Memphis. Today, he’s talking about a big expansion into Texas — a much friendlier regulatory environment, and where his space operations are based. The Information reports a planned set of major data-center expansions, and he’s eyeing other states like Florida too. Expect a wider expansion across the US.

Remember, Elon has a much grander vision: data centers on land and in space, Terafab fabrication, partnerships with Intel — hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of investment ahead of revenues. It’s financed by a very exuberant currency in SpaceX-AI’s and Tesla’s public stock, each valued at a trillion and a half or more — each overvalued on fundamentals by roughly a trillion on some sum-of-the-parts analyses out there (not stock advice, just the numbers analysts are publishing). Never mind that Elon’s in-house utility for all that compute — for Grok and the rest — is still uncertain; for now he’s renting it to Google and Anthropic at premium rates. The environment allows it, so he’s taking advantage of it.

Sources, in narrative order: The Information — SpaceX-AI Explores Major Data Center Expansion in Texas. For longtime readers: ‘Elon Musk boosts SpaceXAI with “Terafab”’ in AI-RTZ #1034.

MP OVERALL TAKE

All three moves capture the ‘damn the torpedoes’ environment of the AI industry right now. The data-center expansions keep coming — and not just in the US; you’ll see this around the world, though rarely as aggressively as here, because the markets are leaning in, private and public, despite the rising rumblings about the ultimate revenue-producing capability of all this expansion. At the same time the regulatory backlash is building — a lot of people simply do not want data centers in their neighborhoods, and that has to be navigated.

So these announcements are very much about getting a lead on the competition and a bigger share of investor dollars and attention — and then damn the torpedoes, making sure you can actually execute on the ground despite the regulatory and community headwinds. Expect more of these moves from the founder-led companies. But the real thing to watch through the rest of this year is what the bigger, more methodical players — Microsoft, Google, Amazon — say and do. That’s the key set to watch in this ‘damn the torpedoes’ environment.

GADGET AI

Samsung Goes Folding-First at Unpacked 2026 — Amid ‘RAMageddon’

MP TAKE — Gadget AI (take-first, Ep 103+)

Samsung held its big Unpacked 2026 event today and rolled out a whole series of Series 8 fold smartphones. Last year’s Series 7 was the thinnest phone of its year — and, believe it or not, this year’s Series 8 is thinner still, with a better battery and processor. Samsung also announced a wide ‘Galaxy 8’ in a passport-size shape — the same wide format as the first Google Pixel Fold, one of my favorite devices — because Apple is rumored to be entering the fold market, perhaps as early as this year, with its own passport-size wide model. There were watches and glasses too; The Verge has the six biggest announcements.

The big issue hanging over all of these gadgets is ‘RAMageddon’ — the rising cost and supply constraint in memory. When this fold came out last year it started around $1,800; today the base Galaxy 8 Fold Ultra starts at about $2,100. That price creep will be an ongoing headwind to demand, even among enthusiasts and early adopters like yours truly, for the next two or three years. A diminished gadget market — but the companies keep jumping in with their best latest offerings.

Sources, in narrative order: The Verge — Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026: The 6 Biggest Announcements. For longtime readers: ‘’RAMageddon’ really here to stay’ in AI-RTZ #1145.

QUESTIONS

Q1 — What’s Michael’s favorite folding phone in 2026?

Answer: As much as I love the thin new Samsung folds, my go-to — especially for reading Kindle books — is still the wide-format Pixel Fold, the first one from several years ago. I prefer the wider device, and I think Apple is onto something with the wide passport-size format. It’ll be interesting to see what software innovations Apple brings to the wider phone — though at an expected $2,000-plus (these things have essentially three screens and need at least 12GB of memory for AI).

Q2 — What’s Michael’s biggest criticism of folding phones?

Answer: As much as I love these devices, they’re still novelty items — technology for technology’s sake. Samsung has invested the most over eight years getting the crease less and less discernible, and the engineering is amazing — the Series 7 is nearly as thin as my iPhone 17 Pro Max. But these are still technologies looking for mainstream applications. Yes, you get a tablet in a pinch — but you can carry a $300-400+ tablet for far less money. Maybe Apple finds a more mainstream set of applications with its foldable. We’ll see — but ‘RAMageddon’ won’t help.

WRAP

Today’s AI-RTZ #1155 — Google Under Fire Again for ‘Breaking the Internet’ with AI Mode in Search — rising concerns that Google’s Gemini-powered AI Mode is driving ‘Google Zero’ for web businesses. My Take, it’s an evolutionary stage — the economics of the internet will evolve so people can make money with AI functionality and AI agents — but it’ll take some time, and the ‘breaking the internet’ debate will continue.

AI Ramblings Daily on AI-RTZ is here to think through AI and reset. Together.

Tomorrow — back with ARD 125 on AI-RTZ 1156.

Thanks for joining us today, AI Curious Folk. Stay tuned.

— MP

Full Source Reading —

For the broader context, see the canonical sources for ARD 124 — in today’s narrative order:

Event 1 — OpenAI Expands Its AI-Data-Center Plans

• WSJ — OpenAI’s Planned Cloud Spending Hits $750 Billion · Axios — OpenAI Plans 3.2-Gigawatt Data Center in Georgia · Axios — OpenAI Says Hugging Face Breach Caused by One of Its Models

• AI-RTZ #1079 — Anthropic and OpenAI now half of $2 trillion in Cloud Company backlogs

Event 2 — Anthropic Signs a $10B+ AMD Partnership

• WSJ — AMD and Anthropic Sign Major Chips and Investment Deal

• AI-RTZ #1154 — AMD’s Helios up against Nvidia’s Vera Rubin and beyond

Event 3 — Elon Expands SpaceX-AI into Texas

• The Information — SpaceX-AI Explores Major Data Center Expansion in Texas

• AI-RTZ #1034 — Elon Musk boosts SpaceXAI with ‘Terafab’

Gadget AI — Samsung Unpacked 2026 (folds amid RAMageddon)

• The Verge — Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026: The 6 Biggest Announcements · AI-RTZ #1145 — ‘RAMageddon’ really here to stay

Clips from today

Clip 1 — OpenAI’s $750B Data Center Bet

Watch on YouTube Shorts

‘Damn the torpedoes’ — OpenAI, Anthropic and SpaceX-AI all boost AI data centers despite the headwinds.

MP Take: OpenAI just put out a new number — $750 billion in planned compute, up from $600 billion (itself down from Altman’s ~$1 trillion call a year ago) — ahead of its anticipated mega-AI IPO. Despite the crosswinds and regulatory pushback, investors in both private and public markets are leaning into more AI data-center spend, not less. It’s an omnidirectional yell of ‘damn the torpedoes.’

Clip 2 — Elon’s Trillion-Dollar Data Center Bet

Watch on YouTube Shorts

Elon’s AI-infrastructure vision runs to hundreds of billions — even trillions — ahead of revenues.

MP Take: Data centers on land and in space, Terafab fabrication, an Intel partnership — all financed by exuberant SpaceX-AI and Tesla stock. Grok’s own compute needs are still uncertain, so for now Elon is renting capacity to Google and Anthropic at premium rates while the environment allows it. It’s ‘damn the torpedoes’ — use the public currency as aggressively as possible to expand the data-center options.

Clip 3 — Elon’s AI Data Centers Head to Texas

Watch on YouTube Shorts

After the Memphis backlash, Elon is taking SpaceX-AI’s data centers to friendlier ground.

MP Take: Colossus 1 and 2 went up fast in Memphis but hit a strong regulatory and community backlash. Now Elon is expanding into Texas — a much friendlier regulatory environment, and where his space operations are based — with Florida and a wider US footprint next. Move to where you can build fastest, then finance the build with the momentum. The longer-term viability questions remain.

Clip 4 — Folding Phones: Tech for Tech’s Sake

Watch on YouTube Shorts

Samsung’s new Series 8 folds are stunning engineering — but are they for anything yet?

MP Take: As much as I love these devices, folding phones are still novelty items — technology for technology’s sake. Samsung has spent eight years shrinking the crease, and the Series 7 is nearly as thin as an iPhone 17 Pro Max. But they’re still looking for a mainstream product-market fit. Yes, you get a tablet in a pinch — but a $300-400 tablet is far cheaper. Maybe Apple’s fold brings mainstream apps; ‘RAMageddon’ pricing won’t help.

About AI Ramblings Daily (ARD), and AI-RTZ

Both are daily. Both are free. Both are about AI. But they’re different mediums carrying different messages.

AI-RTZ is the morning text — a deeper written take on one idea, published by at least 5 AM EST. Today: post #1155.

AI Ramblings Daily is the afternoon video + podcast — my ad hoc takes and perspective on the day’s AI issues & news flow, around 20 minutes, with short 1-2 minute clips for quick topic views. Today: episode #124.

Subscribe to either or both on michaelparekh.substack.com. They run as separate Sections you can opt into or out of.

Links used in today’s show (already embedded inline above; listed here for reference)

Take 1 — OpenAI Expands Its AI-Data-Center Plans:

• WSJ — OpenAI’s Planned Cloud Spending Hits $750 Billion

• Axios — OpenAI Plans 3.2-Gigawatt Data Center in Georgia

• Axios — OpenAI Says Hugging Face Breach Caused by One of Its Models

• AI-RTZ #1079 — Anthropic and OpenAI now half of $2 trillion in Cloud Company backlogs

Take 2 — Anthropic Signs a $10B+ AMD Partnership:

• WSJ — AMD and Anthropic Sign Major Chips and Investment Deal

• AI-RTZ #1154 — AMD’s Helios up against Nvidia’s Vera Rubin and beyond

Take 3 — Elon Expands SpaceX-AI into Texas:

• The Information — SpaceX-AI Explores Major Data Center Expansion in Texas

• AI-RTZ #1034 — Elon Musk boosts SpaceXAI with ‘Terafab’

Gadget AI — Samsung Unpacked 2026:

• The Verge — Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026: The 6 Biggest Announcements

• AI-RTZ #1145 — ‘RAMageddon’ really here to stay

Companion text:

• AI-RTZ #1155 — Google Under Fire Again for ‘Breaking the Internet’ with AI Mode in Search

(NOTE: The discussions here are for information purposes only, and not meant as investment advice at any time. Thanks for joining us here.)

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