How The World Will Power the Revolution in AI & Data Centers

[Monty2026: The Infrastructure Race] Steve Westly (Founder & Managing Partner, The Westly Group) in conversation with Daniel Weiss (Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Angeleno Group). Westly and Weiss, both longtime clean energy investors, argue that the AI and data center buildout represents the largest energy investment opportunity in history. They note that Anthropic and OpenAI, two of the fastest-growing companies ever by user adoption, already consume more energy than any manufacturing firm. Weiss's key comparison is that hyperscalers will spend more on CapEx in 2026 alone than all U.S. investor-owned utilities are projected to spend over the next five years combined. Both frame U.S. AI leadership as the strategic counterweight to China's dominance in solar, batteries, and EVs.