Global Scans · USA · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Donald Trump's surprise win in the Presidential election mean the world and America can expect prolonged uncertainty as new domestic policies are put in place, different international relationships formed and attitudes change towards current friends and rivals.

• [New] The next question is not simply whether AI will use 400 TWh, 600 TWh, or 800 TWh in the US by the end of the decade, but which constraint has the most impact: chips, data centers, grid connections, power supply, capital, politics, or demand. /dev/sustainability
• [New] US data center electricity use is around 180 TWh today and credible forecasts point to 400-600 TWh by 2030, but chips, grids, politics, and the changing shape of AI workloads make estimates difficult. /dev/sustainability
• [New] Whether used in targeted modeling or enterprise-wide tools, AI will become a force multiplier for the financial system, and in the broader U.S. economy. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
• [New] US AVoD revenue will triple between 2020 and 2026 to US$31bn. C21media
• [New] Global AVoD revenue will increase by 144% between 2020 and 2026 to reach US$66bn. C21media
• [New] National Grid invested GBP 45 million in grid AI, estimating annual expected value of AI-prevented grid incidents at GBP 340 million across UK and US operations. The Thinking Company
• [New] The U.S. will generate a total of 341 billion kilowatt-hours of solar energy in 2026 and 418 billion kWh in 2027. Novogradac
• [New] A U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve could lend additional legitimacy to digital assets as a store of value, potentially influencing other nations to follow suit. MEXC
• In the U.S., the FIDO Alliance Digital Credentials Working Group is taking on the workstream of developing a wallet certification program that will establish security, privacy, and interoperability criteria for wallets. National Institute of Standards and Technology
• The operating assumption in US policy circles is that regulated private stablecoins - USDC, USDT via USAT, and bank-issued deposit tokens - will cover most digital dollar use cases. support
• The U.S. Air Force is prioritizing modular, rapidly scalable base defence architecture capable of addressing persistent drone threats across multiple operational theaters without the cost and footprint of legacy air defence systems. Drone Warfare
• The U.S. Army is converging on a mobile, maneuver-integrated counter-UAS solution that could reshape how ground formations defend against drone threats in large-scale combat operations. Drone Warfare
• The U.S. Navy is moving toward a cost-asymmetric defence posture where directed energy replaces expensive interceptor missiles as the primary layer against drone threats, though full carrier integration remains in early stages. Drone Warfare
• The U.S. Navy is actively pursuing directed-energy counter-UAS capability at the carrier strike group level, likely correlating with growing concern over drone threats in contested maritime environments. Drone Warfare
• The US Navy is pursuing a cost-asymmetric approach to persistent anti-submarine surveillance that could meaningfully complicate adversary submarine operations in contested ocean corridors. Drone Warfare
• The U.S. Navy is actively pursuing scalable, platform-agnostic counter-drone architectures that could extend fleet protection to smaller, lower-cost vessels previously lacking organic C-UAS capability. Drone Warfare
• RTX's reconfiguration of the NGJ Mid-Band into a ground and naval variant suggests a deliberate pivot toward scalable, cost-competitive non-kinetic solutions that could reshape how US forces protect high-value assets across domains without expending kinetic munitions against low-cost threats. Drone Warfare
• US public-safety agencies that currently rely on DJI platforms will likely begin issuing emergency procurement solicitations for alternative UAS vendors, as the authorization blockade on new DJI products extends beyond two quarters and operational gaps become operationally measurable. Drone Warfare
• The U.S. Navy is accelerating efforts to field modular, AI-enabled C-UAS layers on uncrewed platforms, likely influenced by the demonstrated vulnerability of naval assets to low-cost drone threats in contested littoral environments. Drone Warfare
• Predictive Analysis: The US Navy will likely issue a formal program-of-record evaluation or expanded fleet trial announcement for LOCUST, given the milestone nature of the carrier demonstration and existing directed-energy procurement momentum. Drone Warfare
• The U.S. is attempting to solve the distributed lethality problem without proportional budget exposure, which could complicate adversary targeting calculus in contested maritime zones. Drone Warfare
• The U.S. Navy is moving toward a distributed maritime kill chain that could place Tomahawk and SM-6 shooters far forward of manned battle groups at roughly one-fiftieth the cost of a destroyer. Drone Warfare
• The US Navy could miss its 30-medium-USV Indo-Pacific deployment milestone by 2030 if industrial production rates for medium USVs do not scale beyond current testing volumes, a claim verifiable against future Navy budget justification documents and fleet readiness reports. Drone Warfare

Last updated: 13 May 2026