Artificial intelligence may be transforming what computers can do, but the next phase of that revolution increasingly depends on something far more fundamental: electricity.
uncertain
phase → transform → something
As AI data centers grow larger and more power intensive, governments and technology companies are confronting a question that could reshape both the energy and digital-infrastructure industries: What if, instead of continually moving energy to data centers, the next generation of data centers is built where abundant primary energy already exists?
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energy → grow → centers
That possibility is particularly relevant to MAX Power Mining Corp. (OTC: MAXXF) (CSE: MAXX) (profile), a leading North American public company focused on the emerging natural hydrogen sector.
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possibility → lead → sector
MAX Power is advancing Canada’s first confirmed subsurface natural hydrogen system at the Lawson Discovery in south-central Saskatchewan, where the company is moving rapidly through a multi-well commercial validation program.
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company → advance → program
In its latest Lawson update, MAX Power reported its most significant results yet ahead of a near-term comprehensive completions program, while the upcoming fifth well at Lawson is stepping out 30 km to demonstrate the potential for an even larger system.
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well → report → system
The company is also advancing the technology side of its natural hydrogen strategy, engaging global IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl to develop a commercialization strategy and go-to-market plan for MAX Power’s proprietary AI-assisted MAXX LEMI exploration platform.
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company → advance → platform
These key steps place MAX Power among other leading technology companies operating in the expanding AI ecosystem, including NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ: META).
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steps → place → Corporation
- For decades, computing infrastructure was largely constrained by processors, storage, bandwidth and software.
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infrastructure → constrain → processors
The AI era is introducing another constraint on an entirely different scale: access to enormous quantities of reliable, around-the-clock electricity.
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era → introduce → electricity
- Natural hydrogen introduces the possibility of a different model because, unlike manufactured hydrogen, it is generated naturally through geological processes underground.
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it → introduce → processes
- MAX Power confirmed Canada’s first natural hydrogen drilling discovery at Lawson earlier this year.
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Power → confirm → Lawson
- MAX Power is also exploring what a successful natural hydrogen development might ultimately power.
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development → explore → what
- Lawson has another dimension that broadens the story beyond energy: helium.
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that → have → energy
For decades, computing infrastructure was largely constrained by processors, storage, bandwidth and software.
asserted
infrastructure → compute → processors
The AI era is introducing another constraint on an entirely different scale: access to enormous quantities of reliable, around-the-clock electricity.
asserted
era → introduce → electricity
The International Energy Agency (“IEA”) reported that capital spending by the largest technology companies exceeded $400 billion in 2025 and is expected to rise another 75% in 2026.
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spending → report → 2026
Reuters noted that Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta planned more than $600 billion in combined AI spending in 2026, while some data centers can consume more than one gigawatt of electricity, comparable to the power use of roughly 850,000 homes.
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centers → note → homes
The infrastructure needed to supply that electricity cannot necessarily expand at the same speed.
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infrastructure → need → speed
Transmission projects can take years to permit and build, utilities face growing queues for large-load connections, and equipment and supply-chain constraints can delay new generating capacity.
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constraints → take → capacity
Last month, Reuters reported that grid bottlenecks are pushing businesses toward larger onsite power systems, with companies increasingly prioritizing “energy certainty.”
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companies → report → certainty
Data centers are among the markets driving that shift.
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centers → drive → shift
Microsoft and Chevron, for example, have entered a 20-year agreement for a co-located natural-gas power facility in West Texas expected to provide approximately 2.67 gigawatts of dedicated capacity to a Microsoft-operated data center.
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Microsoft → enter → center
Chevron is developing the project in collaboration with Engine No. 1.
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Chevron → develop → .
Saskatchewan has taken that concept a step further.
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Saskatchewan → take → concept
Under the province’s new data center framework, new proponents will be required to supply their own power so projects do not place additional pressure on Saskatchewan’s electricity system or displace interprovincial export capacity.
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projects → require → capacity
That requirement has taken on new significance with Bell Canada’s planned expansion to a 1.2-gigawatt AI infrastructure hub in Saskatchewan, including up to 900 megawatts of additional capacity under the province’s “Bring Your Own Power” principle.
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requirement → take → principle
The policy effectively makes energy supply part of the data center development equation from the beginning.
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supply → make → beginning
That requirement raises a larger question.
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requirement → raise → question
If tomorrow’s AI campuses must secure enormous quantities of dependable electricity themselves, access to scalable primary energy becomes increasingly important.
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access → secure → energy
Instead of asking only how to transport enough electricity to wherever a data center is planned, developers may increasingly ask whether power-intensive infrastructure should be located closer to where its energy can be produced.
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energy → ask → electricity
Rethinking How Energy Reaches Demand
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Energy → rethink → Demand
For more than a century, much of the modern energy system has followed a familiar chain: Extract fuel, transport it, generate electricity, transmit that electricity and finally consume it.
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much → follow → it
Each step requires infrastructure, capital and time.
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step → require → infrastructure
Natural hydrogen introduces the possibility of a different model because, unlike manufactured hydrogen, it is generated naturally through geological processes underground.
asserted
it → introduce → processes
If commercially produced at scale, natural hydrogen could become a primary energy source produced directly from naturally occurring underground systems, rather than an energy carrier that must first be manufactured using electricity or fossil fuels.
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that → produce → electricity
That distinction creates the possibility of a much shorter energy chain: Discover energy, generate electricity at the source and build demand around it.
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distinction → create → it
A commercially viable natural hydrogen system could potentially support modular generation close to production, reducing the need to move fuel or transmit electricity over long distances.
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system → support → distances
Instead, power-intensive users could locate closer to the energy resource itself.
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users → locate → resource
AI and high-performance-computing campuses are obvious potential applications, but the model could extend much further.
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model → extend → ?
Industrial manufacturing, fertilizer production, critical infrastructure, military installations and remote communities all require reliable power, while sufficiently large developments could potentially contribute electricity to the broader grid.
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developments → require → grid
…and 102 more, not listed.
The Aporia
