Flex CEO Revathi Advaithi: Grid Not Ready for AI

Advaithi's warning came at Fortune's annual Most Powerful Women Summit in Santa Barbara, California, where she spoke with executive editorial director Diane Brady. She framed AI readiness as an energy problem rather than a technology problem, arguing that the country's grid has not changed since the Thomas Edison days. She said developing a chip takes five years, while building a power grid capable of meeting growing energy needs takes decades. She also pointed to a 'tremendous amount' of approval processes in creating new power technology, and said data centers aren't acting with haste or employing new innovations. She predicted the U.S. will still have a power gap in the next decade as frontier models continue to grow. She warned that without moving fast on new generation, upgrading old and outdated transmission lines, and getting to next-generation distribution, the country will operate in a deficit.