Crusoe and the AI Power Shock: Can the AI Buildout be Executed Responsibly?

In early 2026, Crusoe stands at a significant turning point. The company began as a climate start-up, avoiding carbon emissions by capturing wasted flare at oil well sites to power Bitcoin and later AI. By 2026, it has become one of the leading developers of AI data center infrastructure in the world, backing that infrastructure almost entirely with new natural gas generation. The case provides readers with context on the AI power shock, the infrastructure race it has triggered, and the systemic costs (externalities) resulting from the buildout. Through Crusoe’s story, readers must evaluate how the company should proceed given its founding climate mission, and whether the AI buildout can be executed responsibly.

1) Give students a clear understanding of the externalities and spillover costs associated with the AI data center buildout (emissions, water, electricity prices, capital diverted from clean energy investment)
2) Communicate the sheer scale of physical resources, capital, and infrastructure required to build out the facilities powering the AI boom
3) Explain the constraints faced by AI infrastructure developers today (access to firm power, grid interconnection bottlenecks, and the financing structures that shape developer behavior)
4) Establish why existing renewable technologies fall short of what large-scale AI data centers require, and what that gap means for near-term power sourcing decisions
5) Surface the tension in building natural gas-backed AI infrastructure (given that AI is expected to accelerate tech breakthroughs, including clean tech) and ask students to consider whether that gas capacity represents a bridge to cleaner alternatives or a multi-decade structural lock-in