As AI reshapes the industrial landscape, companies are questioning whether the grid can keep pace. Permitting delays, transmission constraints, and reliability risks are forcing developers to rethink where power comes from.

In this episode, KR Sridhar, CEO of Bloom Energy, lays out a radically different vision. He believes that many data centers will ultimately operate like refineries — powered by captive, off-grid generation that prioritizes resilience, speed, and local control over traditional grid economics.

Sridhar argues that solid-state fuel cells have become an ideal solution to meet data center needs at AI speed and scale. They can be deployed in months rather than years, follow digital loads in real time, and integrate with future zero-carbon fuels like hydrogen.

“I truly believe that this is a cyclical trend that’s going to continue for well over a decade,” said Sridhar.

This episode features an edited version of our live Frontier Forum conversation about what a future-proof AI power strategy really looks like. We talk about the tension between off-grid and grid-connected approaches, the importance of speed to power, carbon capture, and supply chains over the next decade of growth.

The conversation also touches on Bloom’s new white paper, Fuel Cells: A Technology Whose Time Has Come, which argues that onsite generation can deliver AI-scale reliability and lower emissions.

You can watch the full Frontier Forum conversation with audience Q&A here.

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