Hello everyone! AITX Team here with more updates this week.
If you’re new here, welcome! 👋 At AITX, we aim to:
Connect you with like-minded peers passionate about AI.
Provide a space for sharing ideas and receiving feedback on AI projects you’re building.
Share helpful tools and invaluable resources.
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Before we jump into the regular news, a few housekeeping items:
Upcoming AITX Community Events:
Austin AITX Community Monthly Meetup | sign up here!
Houston AITX Community Monthly Meetup | sign up here!
To stay in the loop on all our monthly meetups and other community organized events, subscribe to our AITX Community calendar here.
Check out our Community Directory:
Where you can fill out your profile and find other members of the AITX community. If you haven’t filled out your profile yet, please follow the link HERE and submit your information.
Base Power x AITX Talent Hackathon
We are running a weekend hackathon at Base Power HQ in Austin, September 25 to 27.
Base Power builds home batteries, installs them, and runs them as one coordinated fleet that helps balance the Texas grid. They manufacture in house and work with both homeowners and utilities.
They are also hiring software engineers, and that is why this event exists. Their engineering team will be in the room all weekend, judging projects and meeting people. If you have been curious about what they are building, this is the way in.
Applications are reviewed and space is limited.
We’d also like to thank the supporting partners: Thrive Capital and a16z.
Holy Hackathons 😱
Yes… we know we just announced one above. But we’re trying kick fall off with a bang
We will have two hackathons this month in Austin and Houston.
Both will be held on September 19th.
We’re only sharing this through the newsletter, so subscribers get first dibs 👇
AITX Community Member Survey
As we head into the summer, we wanted to take the time to ask how we can help y’all better.
Please fill out this survey to tell us how we can better help you (takes less than 2 minutes) 👇
State of AI in Texas Report Survey Live!
Howdy! The State of AI in Texas Report (STAR) has been finalized.
AITX Community and UT School of Law is excited to hear what the community has to say! By mapping the AI landscape and understanding stakeholder interactions, we hope to identify key businesses involved with AI development in Texas.
And by learning about AI product usage and how to support needs of new AI developers, we aim to provide a report that will both inform smart AI policy and serve as a guide for businesses on AI development.
THE WHO – We Want to Hear From You: If you’re based in Texas and work at Startups, Scaleups, or Enterprises, this survey is for you.
This is your chance to have your voice heard.
In this week’s edition you’re getting:
5 Upcoming Events
3 AI Community Stories
So let’s jump in!
Community Events
When: Wednesday, September 16 | 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM CST
Where: Terrazas Branch, Austin Public Library Austin, TX
What: The Atrium is a new community for professionals who use AI tools and want to actually get better at them. Our first event is a live working session. We'll take a real task, break it down together, and build something functional in the room that you can put to use the next day.
When: Thursday, September 17 | 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM CDT
Where: CGCS, ACC Rio Campus Build #3000, Austin, TX
What: Join MongoDB and ACM Austin for a hands-on workshop where you'll build a functional AI-powered technical documentation assistant using LangGraph and MongoDB-learning core concepts like reasoning, tools, and memory while exploring real-world agent architectures. Enjoy Mexican catering and networking before diving into this practical 2.5-hour session, and earn a shareable AI Agents Skill Badge to showcase your expertise.
When: Tuesday, September 8 | 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM CDT
Where: Cedar Door, Austin, TX
What: Join Austin's AI innovators, investors, and entrepreneurs at this high-energy networking mixer featuring live 1-minute pitches from founders and professionals at the forefront of artificial intelligence and machine learning. Whether you're launching an AI startup, seeking investment opportunities, or exploring the latest innovations in the field, this is your chance to pitch ideas, discover new ventures, and build meaningful connections with the people shaping the future of tech.
When: Thursday, September 3 | 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM CDT
Where: The Ion Houston, Houston, TX
What: Hear directly from two leaders reshaping AI in Houston: the co-founder of Collide, a fast-growing AI platform serving 6,000+ users globally, and Raytheon's AI leader who orchestrated one of the largest enterprise AI rollouts affecting 100,000 employees. Join the Houston AI Club, Allenix, the Ion District, and Collide on September 3 for the inaugural AI Operator Spotlight-a candid conversation about real-world AI implementation challenges, followed by 45 minutes of networking with Houston's AI community of founders, executives, investors, and builders.
When: Wednesday, September 9 | 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM CDT
Where: Austin, Texas
What: Join the Chief of Staff Network in Austin for an interactive evening of AI demonstrations and peer learning, where operators will showcase practical AI workflows, tools, and prompts they're actually using to work more effectively. Enjoy lightning demos from fellow Chiefs of Staff, hands-on insights you can implement immediately, and meaningful networking with operations leaders in a relaxed setting at Antone's on September 9th.
COMMUNITY STORIES
Anthropic has locked in a massive $35 billion computing agreement with Nvidia-backed Lambda to access GPU capacity at a new data center in Nueces County, Texas. The deal, signed on August 31st, is part of an unprecedented $80 billion wave of AI infrastructure investments announced within a single week. The facility, developed by former crypto-mining company Hut 8, will provide approximately 350 megawatts of computing capacity for Anthropic's AI training and inference operations.
Why it matters: This mega-deal signals Texas's rapid emergence as a critical AI infrastructure hub and demonstrates the massive capital requirements driving competition in frontier AI development.
Need to know:
The $35 billion deal gives Anthropic access to 350 megawatts of GPU computing capacity at a Nueces County, Texas data center operated by Lambda and developed by Hut 8
Nvidia holds multiple strategic positions in this arrangement-as GPU supplier, direct investor in Lambda, and leaseholder of the data center facility itself
This agreement represents part of $80 billion in AI infrastructure investments announced in just one week, highlighting the explosive growth in AI computing demands
Texas's power grid is buckling under unprecedented demand as data center connection requests have exploded from 48 gigawatts to 474 gigawatts since 2023-a nearly 10-fold increase driven by AI infrastructure expansion. While positioning Texas as the world's fastest-growing AI hub, much of this demand may be 'ghost demand' from speculative projects that will never materialize, raising critical questions about grid planning and capacity.
Why it matters: As AI infrastructure deployment accelerates globally, understanding the gap between projected and actual power demand is crucial for sustainable AI development and avoiding grid instability that could impact operational AI facilities.
Need to know:
Data center grid connection requests in Texas surged from 48 GW to 474 GW since 2023, representing a nearly 10x increase in just three years
Big Tech is projected to spend over $700 billion on AI-related infrastructure in 2026, fueling a land and grid connection rush in Texas
Energy regulators warn that a substantial portion of connection requests represent 'ghost demand'-phantom projects from speculative developers that may never be built
Bitdeer Technologies has made a major play in the AI infrastructure race, dropping approximately $100 million in cash to acquire 200 acres of land in Milam County, Texas, adjacent to its existing Rockdale operations. The strategic acquisition significantly expands the company's power capacity pipeline in Milam County to 742 MW and pushes its global capacity to approximately 3.0 GW, positioning Bitdeer as a serious contender in the rapidly growing AI and high-performance computing data center market.
Why it matters: This substantial investment demonstrates the accelerating convergence of cryptocurrency mining expertise and AI infrastructure development, signaling that Texas is becoming a critical battleground for companies competing to power the next generation of AI computing.
Need to know:
$100 million all-cash, fee-simple acquisition of 200 acres provides outright ownership without lease-renewal concerns, enabling easier financing and development of high-density AI/HPC facilities
The new land increases Bitdeer's Milam County power capacity pipeline to 742 MW and boosts global capacity to approximately 3.0 GW
The parcel is strategically located adjacent to Bitdeer's existing Rockdale operations, allowing for operational synergies and streamlined infrastructure development
That’s all for now, folks!
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