{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "Alaska AI", "home_page_url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/", "feed_url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/feed.json", "description": "One verified Alaska and AI story a day. Every fact checked against a fetched primary source.", "language": "en-US", "authors": [ { "name": "Alaska AI", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/about/" } ], "items": [ { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-26/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-26/", "title": "One Line Out. Alaska's One Name on the AI Power Pledge", "summary": "Cordova sits on Prince William Sound, off the state highway system, with no transmission line to another community.", "content_html": "

Cordova sits on Prince William Sound, off the state highway system, with no transmission line to another community.

\"One

One Alaska utility signed. Its wires reach no one else.

281 names on the pledge. One of them is in Alaska.

Cordova Electric Cooperative is filed under Cooperative on the White House signatory page. No Railbelt utility appears on the list as read.

Five commitments. Nobody has to keep them.

USA TODAY and POWER both call the pledge non binding. Twenty three governors signed an addendum promising to implement its principles to the greatest extent possible.

1,566 customers. 18 megawatts. No line out.

Cordova Electric Cooperative runs one diesel plant and two hydroelectric plants. The town is off the state highway system and the cooperative is not connected by transmission line to any other community.

Every megawatt in this story, on one axis.

It passed the Senate. Then it stopped.

SB 250 would have required commission approved contracts so a data center's infrastructure and service costs are borne by the operator rather than shifted to other customers. It passed the Alaska Senate on May 16, 2026 and died in House Community and Regional Affairs.

A pledge asks. A contract binds.

The other answer is to leave the grid entirely.

Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska introduced the DATA Act on April 21, 2026. He says it lets manufacturers run on fully self contained grid of one power systems.

A promise is not an instrument.

Twenty three governors signed. One Alaska utility signed, as the list read 2026-07-26. Neither signature is a rule.

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "One Alaska utility signed. Its wires reach no one else.\n\n281 names on the pledge. One of them is in Alaska.\n\nCordova Electric Cooperative is filed under Cooperative on the White House signatory page. No Railbelt utility appears on the list as read.\n\nFive commitments. Nobody has to keep them.\n\nUSA TODAY and POWER both call the pledge non binding. Twenty three governors signed an addendum promising to implement its principles to the greatest extent possible.\n\n1,566 customers. 18 megawatts. No line out.\n\nCordova Electric Cooperative runs one diesel plant and two hydroelectric plants. The town is off the state highway system and the cooperative is not connected by transmission line to any other community.\n\nEvery megawatt in this story, on one axis.\n\nIt passed the Senate. Then it stopped.\n\nSB 250 would have required commission approved contracts so a data center's infrastructure and service costs are borne by the operator rather than shifted to other customers. It passed the Alaska Senate on May 16, 2026 and died in House Community and Regional Affairs.\n\nA pledge asks. A contract binds.\n\nThe other answer is to leave the grid entirely.\n\nRep. Nick Begich of Alaska introduced the DATA Act on April 21, 2026. He says it lets manufacturers run on fully self contained grid of one power systems.\n\nA promise is not an instrument.\n\nTwenty three governors signed. One Alaska utility signed, as the list read 2026-07-26. Neither signature is a rule.", "date_published": "2026-07-26T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-26/og.jpg", "tags": [], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 30, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.rga.org/republican-governors-sign-president-trumps-ratepayer-protection-pledge/", "outlet": "Republican Governors Association", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.whitehouse.gov/ratepayer-protection-pledge/", "outlet": "The White House", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/president-trump-expands-historic-ratepayer-protection-pledge-protect-american", "outlet": "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.cordovaelectric.com/", "outlet": "Cordova Electric Cooperative", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.cordovaelectric.com/about/", "outlet": "Cordova Electric Cooperative", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://begich.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-begich-leads-legislation-lower-energy-costs-introduces-house", "outlet": "Office of Rep. Nick Begich", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4456660/daf-takes-steps-for-potential-alaskan-ai-data-centers/", "outlet": "U.S. Air Force", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.centraloregondaily.com/news/nation-world/23-governors-sign-trumps-cost-pledge-for-data-centers-backbone-of-ai/article_0e204a10-f776-5f29-93b4-04f84a68a7eb.html", "outlet": "USA TODAY via Central Oregon Daily", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.powermag.com/white-house-expands-data-center-ratepayer-pledge-as-congress-moves-to-codify-protections/", "outlet": "POWER Magazine", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/air-force-solicits-interest-in-alaska-data-centers-but-faces-some-hurdles/article_4a42264e-cadb-4f1c-a8f4-c74d2b099ba2.html", "outlet": "Fairbanks Daily News-Miner", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1974439", "outlet": "BillTrack50", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.dwt.com/blogs/energy--environmental-law-blog/2026/06/alaska-data-center-development-next-steps", "outlet": "Davis Wright Tremaine", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1775660", "outlet": "BillTrack50", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/politics/alaska-legislature/2026/06/30/education-funding-age-of-consent-and-more-several-alaska-laws-go-into-effect-july-1/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/07/21/third-special-session-gas-line-begins-next-week-what-makes-it-different-than-last-two/", "outlet": "Alaska's News Source", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-25/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-25/", "title": "On File, Off Record. Alaska's AI Governor Race.", "summary": "24 days.", "content_html": "

24 days.

\"On

Alaska governor 2026, 24 days to the primary

Cut to the dollar Ruled, never cut Campaign finance reports, week of July 20 2026

What the law required

Six people at one AI company, about a fifth of the biggest haul in the field. This deck runs on a model built by Anthropic. Full disclosure, slide 09. 1.8 M since February Six Anthropic employees About a fifth In state share, not disclosed Largest single gift Soldotna to Berkeley The majority came from Lower 48 donors, per Anchorage Daily News. No in state sp

What he says he would do

\"I worry the AI industry has downplayed the risks posed to the public.\" Candidate survey, Northern Journal, June 2026. Background, outside the 10 day wi The record stops here On data centers he told the Anchorage Daily News that until Alaska has \"a proces

The same record, the same depth

\"Most of our national donors, I think, actually, their only agenda is, 'can you Kreiss-Tomkins to the Anchorage Daily News, July 2026 No wrongdoing is alleged in this reporting Kreiss-Tomkins 1.8 M Heilala 1.6 M, 1.4 M his own Begich 1.1 M Taylor 1.0 M Heilala reported nearly 1.6 million dollars, more than 1.4 million of it his own

What is already in motion

About 4,700 acres at three Alaska bases, offered for AI data centers. Background, federal solicitation Aug 18 primary per news reporting, not the Division of Elections Offers were due June 29 2026. No award has been announced. The next governor inh

Alaska requires the money on the record. It does not require the policy.

Compelled by law Every number in this deck exists because a law required it. Nothing required any

Named answers and named blanks

Four candidates did not answer. Two raised about a million each. Not a count of the field. The named answers and non answers in one June 2026 sur Background, Northern Journal, June 2026 1.0 M on file 940,000 on file Gilbert, refuses AI outright DeVries, used AI to answer Others did answer, and two of those answers are shown. Not answering a reporter

Six AI rules one candidate has proposed. Six blanks for yours.

On the record Liability for harms A deepfake ban AI disclosed in political ads An AI fraud crackdown Children protected from AI A human behind state decisions Source, Alaska Public Media, July 24 2026 These six are one candidate's stated positions, not law. Ask any of the 17 candi

Who is telling you this.

One article by one reporter, published July 23 2026 by the Anchorage Daily News This deck was made with a Claude model built by Anthropic. Six Anthropic employe This disclosure also rides in the first comment.

Save slide 08. Take it to a candidate before August 18.

Sources in comments

Sources

Read the full deck with all 10 slides

", "content_text": "Alaska governor 2026, 24 days to the primary\n\nCut to the dollar Ruled, never cut Campaign finance reports, week of July 20 2026\n\nWhat the law required\n\nSix people at one AI company, about a fifth of the biggest haul in the field. This deck runs on a model built by Anthropic. Full disclosure, slide 09. 1.8 M since February Six Anthropic employees About a fifth In state share, not disclosed Largest single gift Soldotna to Berkeley The majority came from Lower 48 donors, per Anchorage Daily News. No in state sp\n\nWhat he says he would do\n\n\"I worry the AI industry has downplayed the risks posed to the public.\" Candidate survey, Northern Journal, June 2026. Background, outside the 10 day wi The record stops here On data centers he told the Anchorage Daily News that until Alaska has \"a proces\n\nThe same record, the same depth\n\n\"Most of our national donors, I think, actually, their only agenda is, 'can you Kreiss-Tomkins to the Anchorage Daily News, July 2026 No wrongdoing is alleged in this reporting Kreiss-Tomkins 1.8 M Heilala 1.6 M, 1.4 M his own Begich 1.1 M Taylor 1.0 M Heilala reported nearly 1.6 million dollars, more than 1.4 million of it his own\n\nWhat is already in motion\n\nAbout 4,700 acres at three Alaska bases, offered for AI data centers. Background, federal solicitation Aug 18 primary per news reporting, not the Division of Elections Offers were due June 29 2026. No award has been announced. The next governor inh\n\nAlaska requires the money on the record. It does not require the policy.\n\nCompelled by law Every number in this deck exists because a law required it. Nothing required any\n\nNamed answers and named blanks\n\nFour candidates did not answer. Two raised about a million each. Not a count of the field. The named answers and non answers in one June 2026 sur Background, Northern Journal, June 2026 1.0 M on file 940,000 on file Gilbert, refuses AI outright DeVries, used AI to answer Others did answer, and two of those answers are shown. Not answering a reporter\n\nSix AI rules one candidate has proposed. Six blanks for yours.\n\nOn the record Liability for harms A deepfake ban AI disclosed in political ads An AI fraud crackdown Children protected from AI A human behind state decisions Source, Alaska Public Media, July 24 2026 These six are one candidate's stated positions, not law. Ask any of the 17 candi\n\nWho is telling you this.\n\nOne article by one reporter, published July 23 2026 by the Anchorage Daily News This deck was made with a Claude model built by Anthropic. Six Anthropic employe This disclosure also rides in the first comment.\n\nSave slide 08. Take it to a candidate before August 18.\n\nSources in comments", "date_published": "2026-07-25T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-25/og.jpg", "tags": [ "AlaskaGovernor2026", "CampaignFinance", "AIPolicy" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 10, "claims_verified": 30, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.highergov.com/contract-opportunity/rflp-artificial-intelligence-ai-data-center-deve-afcec-26-r-0006-o-db695/", "outlet": "HigherGov (federal solicitation record)", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/politics/2026/07/23/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-18-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/politics/elections/2026-07-24/democrat-in-alaskas-governor-race-reports-1-8-million-fundraising-haul-driven-by-californians", "outlet": "Alaska Public Media (Anchorage Daily News)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.northernjournal.com/alaska-governors-race-survey-ai-policy-and-news-sources/", "outlet": "Northern Journal (Nathaniel Herz)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.airandspaceforces.com/usaf-land-ai-data-centers-three-alaska-bases/", "outlet": "Air and Space Forces Magazine (Matthew Cox)", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-24/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-24/", "title": "500 to Fewer Than 12. One Office Holds the Pen.", "summary": "More than 500 comments landed on a North Slope AI data center, and fewer than a dozen backed it.", "content_html": "

More than 500 comments landed on a North Slope AI data center, and fewer than a dozen backed it.

\"500

Form letters lacking substance.

500 said no. One office decides.

A square mile of gravel. 26 miles from Deadhorse.

Bigger than the whole grid.

Not every objection is equal.

Your bill is the weak argument.

The real fight is land, gravel, gas.

Form letters lacking substance.

When 500 say no and fewer than a dozen say yes, should one office hold the pen?

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "Form letters lacking substance.\n\n500 said no. One office decides.\n\nA square mile of gravel. 26 miles from Deadhorse.\n\nBigger than the whole grid.\n\nNot every objection is equal.\n\nYour bill is the weak argument.\n\nThe real fight is land, gravel, gas.\n\nForm letters lacking substance.\n\nWhen 500 say no and fewer than a dozen say yes, should one office hold the pen?", "date_published": "2026-07-24T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-24/og.jpg", "tags": [ "AlaskaEnergy", "NorthSlope", "DataCenters" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 13, "sources": [ { "url": "https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=223817", "outlet": "Alaska DNR Online Public Notices (ADL 422741)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://northern.org/news/stak-energy-campus-what-the-states-lease-documents-reveal-about-scale-risk-and-unanswered-questions/", "outlet": "Northern Alaska Environmental Center", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2026/07/07/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.northernjournal.com/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/", "outlet": "Northern Journal", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-23/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-23/", "title": "Governed First, Alaska Native Health and AI", "summary": "Data sovereignty is not a privacy setting.", "content_html": "

Data sovereignty is not a privacy setting.

\"Governed

In Alaska Native health, the Tribe decides what AI runs.

Sovereignty means the Tribe governs its own data.

In Alaska, that record is life and death.

One is live. One is proposed.

Two rule sets, one authority.

Alaska Native institutions convened this.

In 2022, a third had never heard of AI.

This rests on one paper.

Adopt fast. Govern first.

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "In Alaska Native health, the Tribe decides what AI runs.\n\nSovereignty means the Tribe governs its own data.\n\nIn Alaska, that record is life and death.\n\nOne is live. One is proposed.\n\nTwo rule sets, one authority.\n\nAlaska Native institutions convened this.\n\nIn 2022, a third had never heard of AI.\n\nThis rests on one paper.\n\nAdopt fast. Govern first.", "date_published": "2026-07-23T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-23/og.jpg", "tags": [ "IndigenousDataSovereignty", "AlaskaNativeHealth", "ClinicalAI" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 15, "sources": [ { "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13202658/", "outlet": "International Journal of Circumpolar Health (via PMC)", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12009764/", "outlet": "Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence (via PMC)", "primary": true } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-22/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-22/", "title": "The Giveaway, Surveyed. Alaska's Free Land for AI", "summary": "A nine-slide look at Alaska's plan to convey 31 square miles of public land to its own development agency at no cost for a data-center district, and the public comment window that closes August 19.", "content_html": "

Alaska is moving to hand 31 square miles of public land to its own development agency for zero dollars.

\"The

31 SQUARE / MILES OF / PUBLIC LAND. / FREE.

The state moved to give it to its own development agency.

19,950 acres. / No price.

Under a preliminary decision, a state agency would convey about 19,950 acres of public land, roughly 31 square miles, to AIDEA, the state development authority. The site sits two miles north of Houston. Case ADL 234762.

What the land is for

The plan is a multi-use industrial and energy district, and scalable data centers are named among the uses, per the project decision and local coverage. Data centers are the physical plant of modern AI. Free land is meant to pull them in.

Alaska has 8. / Virginia has 639.

Alaska has 8 data centers, among the fewest of any state. Virginia has 639. The state sees a hole to fill, and cheap public land is one lever it can pull.

Not answering demand. / Building it.

This is build it and they will come, aimed at a public asset. Free land is the subsidy, spent before a single data center exists.

The town next door says no

Houston City Council member Lisa Johansen has proposed banning data centers inside city limits. But the state parcel sits about two miles north of Houston, outside the line a town of a few thousand can draw. The town can zone itself, not the land next door.

The choice was never data centers or nothing.

It is the terms. Free or priced. Who zones it, who profits, and who carries the cost if the servers never come. Right now it is only a boundary on a map, which is what a comment period is for.

It is not decided yet

This is a preliminary decision. Public comment on case ADL 234762 runs through 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, 2026. If nothing significant changes, the state can then issue it as the final finding and decision.

Comment before Aug 19

Read case ADL 234762 and tell the state what 31 square miles of public land is worth. That is the one price control left before this goes final. Should the state give public land away to attract data centers, or set a price the town next door helps decide?

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "31 SQUARE / MILES OF / PUBLIC LAND. / FREE.\n\nThe state moved to give it to its own development agency.\n\n19,950 acres. / No price.\n\nUnder a preliminary decision, a state agency would convey about 19,950 acres of public land, roughly 31 square miles, to AIDEA, the state development authority. The site sits two miles north of Houston. Case ADL 234762.\n\nWhat the land is for\n\nThe plan is a multi-use industrial and energy district, and scalable data centers are named among the uses, per the project decision and local coverage. Data centers are the physical plant of modern AI. Free land is meant to pull them in.\n\nAlaska has 8. / Virginia has 639.\n\nAlaska has 8 data centers, among the fewest of any state. Virginia has 639. The state sees a hole to fill, and cheap public land is one lever it can pull.\n\nNot answering demand. / Building it.\n\nThis is build it and they will come, aimed at a public asset. Free land is the subsidy, spent before a single data center exists.\n\nThe town next door says no\n\nHouston City Council member Lisa Johansen has proposed banning data centers inside city limits. But the state parcel sits about two miles north of Houston, outside the line a town of a few thousand can draw. The town can zone itself, not the land next door.\n\nThe choice was never data centers or nothing.\n\nIt is the terms. Free or priced. Who zones it, who profits, and who carries the cost if the servers never come. Right now it is only a boundary on a map, which is what a comment period is for.\n\nIt is not decided yet\n\nThis is a preliminary decision. Public comment on case ADL 234762 runs through 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 19, 2026. If nothing significant changes, the state can then issue it as the final finding and decision.\n\nComment before Aug 19\n\nRead case ADL 234762 and tell the state what 31 square miles of public land is worth. That is the one price control left before this goes final. Should the state give public land away to attract data centers, or set a price the town next door helps decide?", "date_published": "2026-07-22T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-22/og.jpg", "tags": [ "MatSu", "DataCenters", "PublicLands" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 19, "sources": [ { "url": "https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=224431", "outlet": "Alaska DNR Online Public Notices", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://droneamplified.com/alaska-dot-drone-amplified-uas-avalanche-control-montis/", "outlet": "Drone Amplified (Alaska DOT case page)", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://droneamplified.com/drone-amplified-faa-approval-montis-avalanche-control-drone/", "outlet": "Drone Amplified", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-secures-56-provisions-historic-26-billion-for-alaska-in-fy-2027-defense-authorization", "outlet": "Office of Sen. Dan Sullivan", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/07/17/new-state-proposal-could-bring-data-centers-mat-su-part-industrial-park/", "outlet": "Alaska's News Source", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.matsusentinel.com/state-agency-plans-houston-area-industrial-park-data-centers-distribution-hub/", "outlet": "Mat-Su Sentinel", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://breakingdefense.com/2026/07/senate-democrats-block-ndaa-amid-concerns-on-iran-war-budget-topline/", "outlet": "Breaking Defense", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-21/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-21/", "title": "A Better Ear Is Not a Recovery", "summary": "Cook Inlet has about 331 belugas left, and AI can finally hear them through the ship noise.", "content_html": "

Cook Inlet has about 331 belugas left, and AI can finally hear them through the ship noise.

\"A

Now a machine can hear them through the ship noise.

Two gates. One white whale.

NOAA Fisheries, Microsoft AI for Good and Alaska Fish and Game built a deep learning listener in two stages. Stage one flags a sound. Stage two names the species behind it.

Down almost 80 percent.

Cook Inlet's belugas are a genetically distinct population, cut off from every other Alaska stock. They fell from about 1,300 whales in 1979 to 279 by 2018, and were listed endangered in 2008.

A whale in a wall of noise.

Ocean noise is one of the biggest threats NOAA lists for these belugas. In a crowded inlet a single call can vanish under a passing ship. Hearing them at all is the first problem.

It learns the calls it used to miss.

The model uses contrastive audio language models and active learning. It sorts a sound into beluga, killer whale or humpback, flags the calls it is unsure of for a person to label, and firms up a daily read of where belugas are.

Ears below. Eyes above.

A separate NOAA led effort, with the U.S. Geological Survey, Microsoft AI for Good and the Naval Research Laboratory, is teaching a cloud model to spot the same whales in satellite images.

331 today. Still far below 1979.

The machine measures the whale. It cannot move it.

A sharper ear tells managers where and when the belugas are. It does not quiet the ships, refill the prey, or clear the inlet. The hunt has been closed since 2007, and the whales still have not recovered.

A better ear is not a recovery.

AI can finally hear Alaska's most endangered whale. What would it take to bring it back?

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "Now a machine can hear them through the ship noise.\n\nTwo gates. One white whale.\n\nNOAA Fisheries, Microsoft AI for Good and Alaska Fish and Game built a deep learning listener in two stages. Stage one flags a sound. Stage two names the species behind it.\n\nDown almost 80 percent.\n\nCook Inlet's belugas are a genetically distinct population, cut off from every other Alaska stock. They fell from about 1,300 whales in 1979 to 279 by 2018, and were listed endangered in 2008.\n\nA whale in a wall of noise.\n\nOcean noise is one of the biggest threats NOAA lists for these belugas. In a crowded inlet a single call can vanish under a passing ship. Hearing them at all is the first problem.\n\nIt learns the calls it used to miss.\n\nThe model uses contrastive audio language models and active learning. It sorts a sound into beluga, killer whale or humpback, flags the calls it is unsure of for a person to label, and firms up a daily read of where belugas are.\n\nEars below. Eyes above.\n\nA separate NOAA led effort, with the U.S. Geological Survey, Microsoft AI for Good and the Naval Research Laboratory, is teaching a cloud model to spot the same whales in satellite images.\n\n331 today. Still far below 1979.\n\nThe machine measures the whale. It cannot move it.\n\nA sharper ear tells managers where and when the belugas are. It does not quiet the ships, refill the prey, or clear the inlet. The hunt has been closed since 2007, and the whales still have not recovered.\n\nA better ear is not a recovery.\n\nAI can finally hear Alaska's most endangered whale. What would it take to bring it back?", "date_published": "2026-07-21T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-21/og.jpg", "tags": [ "CookInletBeluga", "MarineBioacoustics", "AlaskaScience" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 16, "sources": [ { "url": "https://api.crossref.org/works/10.1111/mms.70213", "outlet": "Marine Mammal Science (Crossref record)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/beluga-whale", "outlet": "NOAA Fisheries", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/alaska/science-data/satellite-monitoring-cook-inlet-beluga-whales", "outlet": "NOAA Fisheries", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-20/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-20/", "title": "2026-07-20", "summary": "A Kenai school district bought an $8,300 AI tool for its classrooms, then started writing the rules to govern it.", "content_html": "

A Kenai school district bought an $8,300 AI tool for its classrooms, then started writing the rules to govern it.

\"2026-07-20

AI is already in class. The rulebook is still in pencil.

An $8,300 tool is on the desk. The policy is a draft.

The tool is paid for. The rulebook is a draft.

Kenai's district has spent $8,300 to date on a three year MagicSchool subscription for students and staff. The policy meant to govern it is still a draft.

Two questions decide it.

Student data is the hard boundary.

Under the proposal, teachers could not feed student data into AI tools the district has not approved. Alaska's vetting rules require FERPA and COPPA, the federal student privacy laws.

Write it in pencil, not ink.

Alaska already has a playbook.

Not whether. How.

The deadline is fall.

Kenai aims to have its AI rules in place by the start of the new school year. Its committee began this work in 2025, building on the state framework.

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "AI is already in class. The rulebook is still in pencil.\n\nAn $8,300 tool is on the desk. The policy is a draft.\n\nThe tool is paid for. The rulebook is a draft.\n\nKenai's district has spent $8,300 to date on a three year MagicSchool subscription for students and staff. The policy meant to govern it is still a draft.\n\nTwo questions decide it.\n\nStudent data is the hard boundary.\n\nUnder the proposal, teachers could not feed student data into AI tools the district has not approved. Alaska's vetting rules require FERPA and COPPA, the federal student privacy laws.\n\nWrite it in pencil, not ink.\n\nAlaska already has a playbook.\n\nNot whether. How.\n\nThe deadline is fall.\n\nKenai aims to have its AI rules in place by the start of the new school year. Its committee began this work in 2025, building on the state framework.", "date_published": "2026-07-20T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-20/og.jpg", "tags": [ "AlaskaEducation", "AIinSchools", "EdTechPolicy" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 17, "sources": [ { "url": "https://education.alaska.gov/artificial-intelligence/district", "outlet": "Alaska DEED", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.kbbi.org/2026-07-08/proposed-school-district-ai-policies-target-academic-honesty-student-privacy", "outlet": "KBBI/KDLL public radio", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.edtechinnovationhub.com/news/alaska-becomes-32nd-us-state-to-release-k-12-ai-education-framework", "outlet": "EdTech Innovation Hub", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-19/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-19/", "title": "Reading the Frozen Ground at the Top of America", "summary": "Under one road in Utqiagvik, the northernmost US city, two buried cables now teach the frozen ground to forecast its own thaw.", "content_html": "

Under one road in Utqiagvik, the northernmost US city, two buried cables now teach the frozen ground to forecast its own thaw.

\"Reading

The frozen ground now forecasts itself

Two buried cables. Three winters of data. One Alaska road.

Two cables. One road. A kilometer each.

Under one road embankment in Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in the United States, a Penn State team buried a pair of fiber-optic cables, each 1 km (0.6 mi) long, to feel the ground.

Warming ground breaks what we build on it

Permafrost worldwide is warming, by up to almost 2 F per decade. If the thaw holds, Arctic communities could see billions in damaged roads, pipes, and buildings. The old answer is to guess. The new one is to measure.

The wire that listens to frost

For 33 months, the cables read temperature and seismic motion straight from the embankment. Terabytes of ground, recorded in the dark.

A live twin, fed by the buried cables

They fused physics equations with machine learning to build a digital twin, a real-time simulation of that embankment, fed by the cables. This is narrow, physics-informed AI, not a general or generative one.

DIGITAL TWIN / UTQIAGVIK EMBANKMENT

Not a smarter guess. A guess the ground corrects.

Each forecast meets the next real reading, and the gap teaches the model. The value is not certainty. It is a prediction the frozen ground itself keeps grading, season after season.

One kilometer, lit. The rest is dark ground.

This models one embankment, not the North Slope. The team says the method is broadly transferable, which is a claim, not a deployment.

Fund a decade more of ground truth?

The lead researcher wants about 10 more years of data, an aspiration, not a funded plan. So the real question for Alaska, keep the wire in the ground, or harden the roads we already know are failing?

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "The frozen ground now forecasts itself\n\nTwo buried cables. Three winters of data. One Alaska road.\n\nTwo cables. One road. A kilometer each.\n\nUnder one road embankment in Utqiagvik, the northernmost city in the United States, a Penn State team buried a pair of fiber-optic cables, each 1 km (0.6 mi) long, to feel the ground.\n\nWarming ground breaks what we build on it\n\nPermafrost worldwide is warming, by up to almost 2 F per decade. If the thaw holds, Arctic communities could see billions in damaged roads, pipes, and buildings. The old answer is to guess. The new one is to measure.\n\nThe wire that listens to frost\n\nFor 33 months, the cables read temperature and seismic motion straight from the embankment. Terabytes of ground, recorded in the dark.\n\nA live twin, fed by the buried cables\n\nThey fused physics equations with machine learning to build a digital twin, a real-time simulation of that embankment, fed by the cables. This is narrow, physics-informed AI, not a general or generative one.\n\nDIGITAL TWIN / UTQIAGVIK EMBANKMENT\n\nNot a smarter guess. A guess the ground corrects.\n\nEach forecast meets the next real reading, and the gap teaches the model. The value is not certainty. It is a prediction the frozen ground itself keeps grading, season after season.\n\nOne kilometer, lit. The rest is dark ground.\n\nThis models one embankment, not the North Slope. The team says the method is broadly transferable, which is a claim, not a deployment.\n\nFund a decade more of ground truth?\n\nThe lead researcher wants about 10 more years of data, an aspiration, not a funded plan. So the real question for Alaska, keep the wire in the ground, or harden the roads we already know are failing?", "date_published": "2026-07-19T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-19/og.jpg", "tags": [ "AlaskaAI", "Permafrost", "ArcticInfrastructure" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 27, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2026.1727514/full", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://phys.org/news/2026-06-digital-twin-alaska-permafrost-real.html", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=224224", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2026/07/07/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://northern.org/news/stak-energy-campus-what-the-states-lease-documents-reveal-about-scale-risk-and-unanswered-questions/", "outlet": "", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-18/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-18/", "title": "Alaska data centers and your power bill, on the grid or off", "summary": "A data center on the North Slope cannot touch your Anchorage power bill. One in the Mat-Su can.", "content_html": "

A data center on the North Slope cannot touch your Anchorage power bill. One in the Mat-Su can.

\"Alaska

Will a data center raise your power bill?

In Alaska the honest answer splits on one line.

On the grid, or off it.

OFF THE GRID. Runs on its own gas. Never touches your wires. ON THE GRID. Shares the wires, and the bill, with you.

The one everyone feared is off the line.

STAK's proposed campus sits about 25 miles south of Deadhorse and self-generates a gigawatt or more, roughly 30 percent above urban Alaska's peak. It burns gas behind the meter, with no wire to the Railbelt.

This one plugs into your grid.

The state just moved to hand AIDEA about 30 square miles of land near Houston for a data-center district, on the Railbelt. Public comment is open through August 19.

It all turns on the rate deal.

RATES COULD FALL. A big anchor load can spread fixed costs, Launch Alaska argues. RATES COULD RISE. Or compete for scarce Railbelt gas.

The case for lower, in one chart.

And every 1% drop leaves about $2.5M in fixed costs with nowhere to go. A big anchor load could spread those costs, the argument goes. Could.

Alaska is at the very beginning.

Eight data centers here, against the nation's leader at 639, as reported by Alaska's News Source. The rules get written while the count is still small.

Build vs ban is the wrong fight.

Houston is weighing a ban, postponed to August 13. But the lever is the rate deal. Anchorage adopted guardrails 10 to 2. The statewide bill that would set rate rules, HB 259, still sits in the House Energy Committee.

Before the next data center plugs in, ask one thing. Who writes the rate deal, and does it lower your bill or raise it?

On the grid or off it changes everything. What should Alaska require first?

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "Will a data center raise your power bill?\n\nIn Alaska the honest answer splits on one line.\n\nOn the grid, or off it.\n\nOFF THE GRID. Runs on its own gas. Never touches your wires. ON THE GRID. Shares the wires, and the bill, with you.\n\nThe one everyone feared is off the line.\n\nSTAK's proposed campus sits about 25 miles south of Deadhorse and self-generates a gigawatt or more, roughly 30 percent above urban Alaska's peak. It burns gas behind the meter, with no wire to the Railbelt.\n\nThis one plugs into your grid.\n\nThe state just moved to hand AIDEA about 30 square miles of land near Houston for a data-center district, on the Railbelt. Public comment is open through August 19.\n\nIt all turns on the rate deal.\n\nRATES COULD FALL. A big anchor load can spread fixed costs, Launch Alaska argues. RATES COULD RISE. Or compete for scarce Railbelt gas.\n\nThe case for lower, in one chart.\n\nAnd every 1% drop leaves about $2.5M in fixed costs with nowhere to go. A big anchor load could spread those costs, the argument goes. Could.\n\nAlaska is at the very beginning.\n\nEight data centers here, against the nation's leader at 639, as reported by Alaska's News Source. The rules get written while the count is still small.\n\nBuild vs ban is the wrong fight.\n\nHouston is weighing a ban, postponed to August 13. But the lever is the rate deal. Anchorage adopted guardrails 10 to 2. The statewide bill that would set rate rules, HB 259, still sits in the House Energy Committee.\n\nBefore the next data center plugs in, ask one thing. Who writes the rate deal, and does it lower your bill or raise it?\n\nOn the grid or off it changes everything. What should Alaska require first?", "date_published": "2026-07-18T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-18/og.jpg", "tags": [], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 16, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/07/17/new-state-proposal-could-bring-data-centers-mat-su-part-industrial-park/", "outlet": "Alaska's News Source", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://alaskabeacon.com/2026/07/16/alaskas-economic-development-agency-plans-a-mat-su-industrial-park-with-data-centers/", "outlet": "Alaska Beacon", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.northernjournal.com/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/", "outlet": "Northern Journal", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://northern.org/news/stak-energy-campus-what-the-states-lease-documents-reveal-about-scale-risk-and-unanswered-questions/", "outlet": "Northern Alaska Environmental Center", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/04/29/opinion-the-hidden-threat-to-your-electric-bill-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News (opinion)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2026/03/04/data-centers-powering-the-ai-boom-demand-local-energy-anchorage-assembly-members-want-to-regulate-them/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/anchorage/2026/03/27/anchorage-assembly-preemptively-adopts-data-center-regulations/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/politics/alaska-legislature/2026-07-16/dunleavy-rejecting-corporate-tax-change-calls-third-alaska-lng-special-session", "outlet": "Alaska Public Media", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-17/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-17/", "title": "No Road Out. Quinhagak Flies Its Own Eyes", "summary": "Quinhagak has no road out, so the roadless Yup'ik village learned to fly its own drones.", "content_html": "

Quinhagak has no road out, so the roadless Yup'ik village learned to fly its own drones.

\"No

No road out. So Quinhagak learned to fly its own drones.

In a roadless stretch of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a lost boat or an overdue traveler is a life-and-death search. Quinhagak's drone team answers those calls from the air, week after week.

The sky is the only road.

No roads reach Quinhagak or its neighbors on the Kuskokwim coast. Rivers and airspace are the only ways through. A local pilot, instructor Sean Gleason says, knows the traffic patterns better than anyone from outside.

They are training their own.

On June 9, a dozen trainees from across rural Alaska came to Quinhagak to learn to fly. The local course runs 14 weeks toward an FAA Part 107 license on an Alaska DOT grant, one seat each for Quinhagak, Eek, Goodnews, and Platinum.

It began at the dig.

The drones first came to map Nunalleq, an ancestral Yup'ik village eroding into the Bering Sea. The pilots stayed, and turned the same eyes on the living delta.

Nalaquq built its own eyes.

Nalaquq, the village-owned company, wrote its own machine vision. A neural network spots a small aluminum boat on a search grid. A polarized-lens rig counts salmon in the river. The name means it has been found.

Most of the eyes are human.

Be exact about the machine. A neural network finds boats. A lens rig counts salmon. But people fly every drone, and the thermal reindeer counts and the archaeology are human eyes reading pictures, not algorithms.

Own the eye, don't rent it.

Elsewhere the sensor, the model, and the data belong to outside companies. In Quinhagak the pilots, the drones, and the machine vision belong to the village that flies over its own land, water, and people.

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "No road out. So Quinhagak learned to fly its own drones.\n\nIn a roadless stretch of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, a lost boat or an overdue traveler is a life-and-death search. Quinhagak's drone team answers those calls from the air, week after week.\n\nThe sky is the only road.\n\nNo roads reach Quinhagak or its neighbors on the Kuskokwim coast. Rivers and airspace are the only ways through. A local pilot, instructor Sean Gleason says, knows the traffic patterns better than anyone from outside.\n\nThey are training their own.\n\nOn June 9, a dozen trainees from across rural Alaska came to Quinhagak to learn to fly. The local course runs 14 weeks toward an FAA Part 107 license on an Alaska DOT grant, one seat each for Quinhagak, Eek, Goodnews, and Platinum.\n\nIt began at the dig.\n\nThe drones first came to map Nunalleq, an ancestral Yup'ik village eroding into the Bering Sea. The pilots stayed, and turned the same eyes on the living delta.\n\nNalaquq built its own eyes.\n\nNalaquq, the village-owned company, wrote its own machine vision. A neural network spots a small aluminum boat on a search grid. A polarized-lens rig counts salmon in the river. The name means it has been found.\n\nMost of the eyes are human.\n\nBe exact about the machine. A neural network finds boats. A lens rig counts salmon. But people fly every drone, and the thermal reindeer counts and the archaeology are human eyes reading pictures, not algorithms.\n\nOwn the eye, don't rent it.\n\nElsewhere the sensor, the model, and the data belong to outside companies. In Quinhagak the pilots, the drones, and the machine vision belong to the village that flies over its own land, water, and people.", "date_published": "2026-07-17T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-17/og.jpg", "tags": [ "ruralAlaska", "YukonKuskokwimDelta", "droneSAR" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 17, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.kyuk.org/science-and-environment/2026-07-14/quinhagak-locals-bridge-drones-and-traditional-knowledge-now-theyre-teaching-others-how-to-do-it", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://academic.oup.com/jcmc/article/28/5/zmad030/7248802", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://nalaquq.com/about-us/", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://nalaquq.com/search-rescue-training/", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://alaskapublic.org/programs/alaska-news-nightly/2026-07-14/alaska-news-nightly-tuesday-july-14-2026", "outlet": "", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-15/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-15/", "title": "Alaska's Critical Mineral Engine, and Its Unbuilt AI", "summary": "A nine-slide look at Alaska's new NSF Critical Mineral Accelerator Engine, what the 15 million dollars buys now, why the 160 million is milestone-gated, and why the AI at its center is still one unbuilt sentence.", "content_html": "

Alaska just won a decade-scale federal bet to find its critical minerals. The AI headlining it is one unbuilt sentence.

\"Alaska's

IT ISN'T BUILT YET

THE NSF JUST FUNDED AN AI TO FIND ALASKA'S CRITICAL MINERALS

Alaska just won one of 12 new federal Innovation Engines.

NSF named a University of Alaska Fairbanks coalition its Critical Mineral Accelerator Engine. It opens with 15 million dollars for the first two years. Far more can follow, only if it delivers.

56 of the 60 minerals the U.S. calls essential are in this ground.

That is the U.S. Geological Survey count, essential to the nation's economy and its security. Alaska is not short on critical minerals. It is short on knowing exactly where, in a place this big.

Read the ground. Find the deposits. Pull the minerals out.

The Engine pairs advanced mining, processing and purification with two newer ideas, artificial intelligence to help locate mineral deposits, and new biological methods to extract them. This is what a prospectivity model would draw, if one existed.

It is announced and funded in principle. It is not yet specified. That is not a scandal. It is the stage this is at.

It is a ladder, not a check.

Seven minerals the announcement names.

One site is named so far. The rest is still a search.

The only location named so far is Alaska Silver's exploration site in western Alaska. NANA Regional Corporation is a partner, not an owner. UAF leads it, with geoscientist Lee Ann Munk as chief executive. The goal, cut U.S. dependence on China for mineral processing.

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "IT ISN'T BUILT YET\n\nTHE NSF JUST FUNDED AN AI TO FIND ALASKA'S CRITICAL MINERALS\n\nAlaska just won one of 12 new federal Innovation Engines.\n\nNSF named a University of Alaska Fairbanks coalition its Critical Mineral Accelerator Engine. It opens with 15 million dollars for the first two years. Far more can follow, only if it delivers.\n\n56 of the 60 minerals the U.S. calls essential are in this ground.\n\nThat is the U.S. Geological Survey count, essential to the nation's economy and its security. Alaska is not short on critical minerals. It is short on knowing exactly where, in a place this big.\n\nRead the ground. Find the deposits. Pull the minerals out.\n\nThe Engine pairs advanced mining, processing and purification with two newer ideas, artificial intelligence to help locate mineral deposits, and new biological methods to extract them. This is what a prospectivity model would draw, if one existed.\n\nIt is announced and funded in principle. It is not yet specified. That is not a scandal. It is the stage this is at.\n\nIt is a ladder, not a check.\n\nSeven minerals the announcement names.\n\nOne site is named so far. The rest is still a search.\n\nThe only location named so far is Alaska Silver's exploration site in western Alaska. NANA Regional Corporation is a partner, not an owner. UAF leads it, with geoscientist Lee Ann Munk as chief executive. The goal, cut U.S. dependence on China for mineral processing.", "date_published": "2026-07-15T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-15/og.jpg", "tags": [ "CriticalMinerals", "AlaskaPolicy", "NSFEngines" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 18, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.adn.com/business-economy/2026/07/07/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-secures-56-provisions-historic-26-billion-for-alaska-in-fy-2027-defense-authorization", "outlet": "Office of Sen. Dan Sullivan", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.nsf.gov/news/nsf-awards-12-new-regional-innovation-engines-fuel-research", "outlet": "National Science Foundation", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/national-science-foundation-funds-uaf-led-critical-minerals-coalition", "outlet": "UAF Geophysical Institute", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-14/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-14/", "title": "The Anchorage Address", "summary": "An Alaska Native-owned firm just won a $24.96M Navy contract for autonomous stealth boats. They will be built in Oregon.", "content_html": "

An Alaska Native-owned firm just won a $24.96M Navy contract for autonomous stealth boats. They will be built in Oregon.

\"The

The boat is Alaskan. The shipyard is not.

An Anchorage, Native-owned firm won a $24.96M Navy contract for autonomous stealth vessels. They will be built in Oregon.

The Navy did not shop around.

AMOUNT $24,960,408 \u00b7 FOR autonomous low-profile vessels \u00b7 TO ReconCraft LLC, Anchorage, Alaska \u00b7 BUILT IN Clackamas, Oregon \u00b7 DONE BY November 2028 \u00b7 BOUGHT sole source, no competition \u00b7 PAID FROM FY2026 innovative technologies (Navy)

Built to show almost nothing.

FREEBOARD under 0.61 m \u00b7 LENGTH about 19.75 m (65 ft) \u00b7 PAYLOAD 2,000 to 4,627 kg \u00b7 RANGE about 2,200 nautical miles. The hull is borrowed from narco-submarines, tuned to beat radar, sonar, sight and heat.

No crew. Not yet a mind.

What the Navy wants next, run itself in crowded ports, with GPS jammed and comms down. What it does today, no one aboard, driven by remote control and pre-set waypoints. Autonomous is the plan, not yet the whole reality.

A set-aside did the winning.

The Navy bought this sole source under the SBA 8(a) program, the federal channel that routes contracts to Native-owned and disadvantaged small firms. Native-owned, tribally owned, 8(a) certified through Dec 2, 2026. The program is doing what it was built to do.

Owned up here. Welded down there.

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA, incorporated here, Native-owned, the address on the contract. CLACKAMAS, OREGON, the shipyard, where the steel is actually cut, hulls up to 120 ft. Two states, one boat, one flag on the contract.

Alaska's seat in the robot-boat boom is an ownership stake, not a shipyard.

That is a real Alaska Native business win. It is also most of what Alaska's slice looks like right now.

An Alaska industry, or just an Alaska address?

If a Native-owned firm wins the contract but the boats are built Outside, does the win count as Alaska's? Tell me where you land. Sources in the comments.

Sources

Read the full deck with all 8 slides

", "content_text": "The boat is Alaskan. The shipyard is not.\n\nAn Anchorage, Native-owned firm won a $24.96M Navy contract for autonomous stealth vessels. They will be built in Oregon.\n\nThe Navy did not shop around.\n\nAMOUNT $24,960,408 \u00b7 FOR autonomous low-profile vessels \u00b7 TO ReconCraft LLC, Anchorage, Alaska \u00b7 BUILT IN Clackamas, Oregon \u00b7 DONE BY November 2028 \u00b7 BOUGHT sole source, no competition \u00b7 PAID FROM FY2026 innovative technologies (Navy)\n\nBuilt to show almost nothing.\n\nFREEBOARD under 0.61 m \u00b7 LENGTH about 19.75 m (65 ft) \u00b7 PAYLOAD 2,000 to 4,627 kg \u00b7 RANGE about 2,200 nautical miles. The hull is borrowed from narco-submarines, tuned to beat radar, sonar, sight and heat.\n\nNo crew. Not yet a mind.\n\nWhat the Navy wants next, run itself in crowded ports, with GPS jammed and comms down. What it does today, no one aboard, driven by remote control and pre-set waypoints. Autonomous is the plan, not yet the whole reality.\n\nA set-aside did the winning.\n\nThe Navy bought this sole source under the SBA 8(a) program, the federal channel that routes contracts to Native-owned and disadvantaged small firms. Native-owned, tribally owned, 8(a) certified through Dec 2, 2026. The program is doing what it was built to do.\n\nOwned up here. Welded down there.\n\nANCHORAGE, ALASKA, incorporated here, Native-owned, the address on the contract. CLACKAMAS, OREGON, the shipyard, where the steel is actually cut, hulls up to 120 ft. Two states, one boat, one flag on the contract.\n\nAlaska's seat in the robot-boat boom is an ownership stake, not a shipyard.\n\nThat is a real Alaska Native business win. It is also most of what Alaska's slice looks like right now.\n\nAn Alaska industry, or just an Alaska address?\n\nIf a Native-owned firm wins the contract but the boats are built Outside, does the win count as Alaska's? Tell me where you land. Sources in the comments.", "date_published": "2026-07-14T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-14/og.jpg", "tags": [ "AlaskaBusiness", "DefenseContracting", "Autonomy" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 8, "claims_verified": 12, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.war.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/4538357/contracts-for-july-8-2026/", "outlet": "U.S. Department of War (DoD) daily contracts", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://armyrecognition.com/news/navy-news/2025/us-marines-train-in-japan-with-alpv-autonomous-low-profile-vessel-based-on-narco-submarine-designs-for-stealth-operations", "outlet": "Army Recognition", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/naval-warfare/us-navy-contracts-alaskan-reconcraft-for-new-patrol-boats/", "outlet": "Shephard Media", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.techtimes.com/articles/320018/20260709/navy-awards-25m-stealthy-autonomous-boats-days-after-iran-breaks-hormuz-truce.htm", "outlet": "Tech Times", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.highergov.com/awardee/reconcraft-llc-10114995/", "outlet": "HigherGov (SAM.gov-sourced awardee profile)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://reconcraft.com/", "outlet": "ReconCraft LLC (company site)", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-13/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-13/", "title": "The Interior's Power Math", "summary": "Golden Valley Electric's board weighs $120 million in new gas capacity today, and its members carry the debt.", "content_html": "

Golden Valley Electric's board weighs $120 million in new gas capacity today, and its members carry the debt.

\"The

$120 million. One vote today. Members own the bill.

a co-op decides behind a closed door

A turbine, and a $120 million question

On July 13, in a closed executive session, Golden Valley Electric Association's board weighs buying a second LM6000 gas turbine for its North Pole plant. The price is about $120 million. In April the board spent $50,000 just to hold a place in the order line.

The News-Miner reports demand for these turbines has surged because large data centers need a guaranteed power supply.

One machine. Steel and megawatts.

An LM6000 makes 45 to 58 megawatts on its own, or 76 to 152 paired with steam or storage. The plant's first LM6000, from 2006, still runs at 47 megawatts. Ordering another can take three to five years.

Members just absorbed the biggest fuel hike on record.

On June 1 the fuel charge jumped 61 percent, the largest increase GVEA has ever posted. The fuel its plants burn more than doubled since February.

The loads are still on paper.

The Air Force is offering about 4,700 acres, 12 parcels across three bases, to companies that would build AI data centers. Two of them, Eielson and Clear, are in the Interior. None is built, no lease is signed. A pending defense bill would require a grid study, if it becomes law.

Firm power, soft load.

The bill is certain. The load is a maybe.

Members are being asked to finance firm, dated capacity now, while the loads that justify it stay on paper. And the vote happens in executive session, a room members reach only through board elections.

Should a co-op spend $120 million on firm power while the loads that need it are still proposals? Or wait until someone signs for the load?

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "$120 million. One vote today. Members own the bill.\n\na co-op decides behind a closed door\n\nA turbine, and a $120 million question\n\nOn July 13, in a closed executive session, Golden Valley Electric Association's board weighs buying a second LM6000 gas turbine for its North Pole plant. The price is about $120 million. In April the board spent $50,000 just to hold a place in the order line.\n\nThe News-Miner reports demand for these turbines has surged because large data centers need a guaranteed power supply.\n\nOne machine. Steel and megawatts.\n\nAn LM6000 makes 45 to 58 megawatts on its own, or 76 to 152 paired with steam or storage. The plant's first LM6000, from 2006, still runs at 47 megawatts. Ordering another can take three to five years.\n\nMembers just absorbed the biggest fuel hike on record.\n\nOn June 1 the fuel charge jumped 61 percent, the largest increase GVEA has ever posted. The fuel its plants burn more than doubled since February.\n\nThe loads are still on paper.\n\nThe Air Force is offering about 4,700 acres, 12 parcels across three bases, to companies that would build AI data centers. Two of them, Eielson and Clear, are in the Interior. None is built, no lease is signed. A pending defense bill would require a grid study, if it becomes law.\n\nFirm power, soft load.\n\nThe bill is certain. The load is a maybe.\n\nMembers are being asked to finance firm, dated capacity now, while the loads that justify it stay on paper. And the vote happens in executive session, a room members reach only through board elections.\n\nShould a co-op spend $120 million on firm power while the loads that need it are still proposals? Or wait until someone signs for the load?", "date_published": "2026-07-13T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-13/og.jpg", "tags": [], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 24, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/gvea-board-to-weigh-heavy-purchase-decision-in-july-as-members-raise-concerns/article_c8b5ce9d-5c3a-46bf-b261-436ea4abe02b.html", "outlet": "Fairbanks Daily News-Miner", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4456660/daf-takes-steps-for-potential-alaskan-ai-data-centers/", "outlet": "U.S. Air Force (af.mil)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-secures-56-provisions-historic-26-billion-for-alaska-in-fy-2027-defense-authorization", "outlet": "Office of Sen. Dan Sullivan", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www3.epa.gov/airquality/greenbook/anayo_ak.html", "outlet": "U.S. EPA Green Book", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/06/01/gvea-announces-rate-increase-starting-june-1-members-see-higher-bills/", "outlet": "Alaska's News Source (KTUU)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://fm.kuac.org/energy-and-the-environment/2026-05-28/gvea-plans-extraordinarily-large-increase-in-co-op-fuel-charge", "outlet": "KUAC", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-12/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-12/", "title": "First Machine to the Fire", "summary": "Five teams are racing across 1,000 square kilometers of Alaska to prove a machine can fight a wildfire with no human in the loop.", "content_html": "

Five teams are racing across 1,000 square kilometers of Alaska to prove a machine can fight a wildfire with no human in the loop.

\"First

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "", "date_published": "2026-07-12T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-12/og.jpg", "tags": [], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 28, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.xprize.org/news/meet-the-future-of-autonomous-wildfire-response-xprize-wildfire-announces-finalist-teams-advancing-in-11m-competition", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707802818/en/Dryad-Networks-Reaches-XPRIZE-Wildfire-Finals-Milestone-Demonstrating-Autonomous-Detection-and-Suppression-of-Wildfires-in-Alaska", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://news.asu.edu/20251028-science-and-technology-using-ai-help-predict-wildfires-alaska", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.war.gov/News/Contracts/Contract/Article/4538357/contracts-for-july-8-2026/", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.sullivan.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sullivan-secures-56-provisions-historic-26-billion-for-alaska-in-fy-2027-defense-authorization", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/test_sites", "outlet": "", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-11/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-11/", "title": "Cook Inlet gas storage, the RCA's no, and AI's gigawatt", "summary": "On July 10, state regulators rejected Alaska's plan to store a single winter of Cook Inlet gas.", "content_html": "

On July 10, state regulators rejected Alaska's plan to store a single winter of Cook Inlet gas.

\"Cook

Alaska's gas machine, in cutaway.

And the valve that just shut.

Five parts move gas from rock to furnace

Reservoir trap, wellhead, pipeline, storage cavern, and the state regulator's valve. Part four is a battery for deep winter. Right now, it sits empty.

Enough for an average day. Not for January.

Cook Inlet's aging fields can meet a normal day, but not a deep-cold peak, and there is little storage to bridge the gap. A former state senator's op-ed warns of a Southcentral shortfall by 2027.

Turn a dead reservoir into a winter battery

Enstar proposed buying the depleted Kenai Loop Pool from AIX Energy and refilling it to hold 25 billion cubic feet, close to half a year's gas, for about $240 million and up to $12 a month on the average bill.

Every fix runs through one valve

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska decides whether a utility's plan is prudent before customers ever pay for it.

The regulator shut the valve

On July 10 the RCA denied the plan, calling it an \"extraordinary request\" that \"lacked basic information about the project.\" The order ran 17 pages. Enstar's president said the company suspended the project.

Can it hold?

Now measure what wants to plug in

One proposed North Slope AI campus, from STAK Energy, would generate \"a gigawatt or more, some 30% more than urban Alaska's peak demand.\" More than $10 billion at full buildout. Its comment window closes July 17.

Store one winter first?

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "Alaska's gas machine, in cutaway.\n\nAnd the valve that just shut.\n\nFive parts move gas from rock to furnace\n\nReservoir trap, wellhead, pipeline, storage cavern, and the state regulator's valve. Part four is a battery for deep winter. Right now, it sits empty.\n\nEnough for an average day. Not for January.\n\nCook Inlet's aging fields can meet a normal day, but not a deep-cold peak, and there is little storage to bridge the gap. A former state senator's op-ed warns of a Southcentral shortfall by 2027.\n\nTurn a dead reservoir into a winter battery\n\nEnstar proposed buying the depleted Kenai Loop Pool from AIX Energy and refilling it to hold 25 billion cubic feet, close to half a year's gas, for about $240 million and up to $12 a month on the average bill.\n\nEvery fix runs through one valve\n\nThe Regulatory Commission of Alaska decides whether a utility's plan is prudent before customers ever pay for it.\n\nThe regulator shut the valve\n\nOn July 10 the RCA denied the plan, calling it an \"extraordinary request\" that \"lacked basic information about the project.\" The order ran 17 pages. Enstar's president said the company suspended the project.\n\nCan it hold?\n\nNow measure what wants to plug in\n\nOne proposed North Slope AI campus, from STAK Energy, would generate \"a gigawatt or more, some 30% more than urban Alaska's peak demand.\" More than $10 billion at full buildout. Its comment window closes July 17.\n\nStore one winter first?", "date_published": "2026-07-11T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-11/og.jpg", "tags": [ "CookInletGas", "AlaskaEnergy", "DataCenterPower" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 16, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.adn.com/business-economy/energy/2026/07/10/state-regulators-reject-enstar-gas-storage-plan-raising-questions-about-solution-to-cook-inlet-shortage/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News (Alex DeMarban)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/06/opinion-alaska-needs-energy-that-works-now-and-lasts/", "outlet": "Anchorage Daily News (op-ed, Lesil McGuire)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.northernjournal.com/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/", "outlet": "Northern Journal (Nathaniel Herz)", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-10/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-10/", "title": "The Machine That Hears a Mountain Think", "summary": "Three Alaska volcanoes are on elevated alert at once, and an AI built in Fairbanks is what stands watch over them.", "content_html": "

Three Alaska volcanoes are on elevated alert at once, and an AI built in Fairbanks is what stands watch over them.

\"The

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "", "date_published": "2026-07-10T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-10/og.jpg", "tags": [ "AlaskaVolcanoes", "VolcanoMonitoring", "GeoAI" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 27, "sources": [ { "url": "https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-03T18:33:40+00:00", "outlet": "", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/349", "outlet": "", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/avo", "outlet": "", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanic-alert-levels-characterize-conditions-us-volcanoes", "outlet": "", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://avo.alaska.edu/volcano/great-sitkin", "outlet": "", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://avo.alaska.edu/volcano/kupreanof", "outlet": "", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://avo.alaska.edu/volcano/edgecumbe", "outlet": "", "primary": true }, { "url": "https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/alaska-developed-volcano-monitoring-system-will-expand-across-us", "outlet": "", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/03/opinion-what-alaskas-governor-candidates-say-about-ai-and-why-it-matters/", "outlet": "", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-09/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-09/", "title": "One River, Two Ways to Count It, AI vs the Tower", "summary": "The deck is 9 slides on who decides when Bristol Bay can fish, the 70-year tower method against a first-season drone, and a scorecard where the machine's accuracy cell is still blank.", "content_html": "

A hand-clicker on a Bristol Bay tower has counted the sockeye since 1955. This year an AI drone wants that job.

\"One

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "", "date_published": "2026-07-09T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-09/og.jpg", "tags": [ "BristolBay", "FisheriesScience", "AppliedAI" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 18, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.kdlg.org/fisheries/2026-07-03/ai-drones-and-salmon-what-new-technology-could-mean-for-bristol-bay-sockeye-counts", "outlet": "KDLG", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.kmxt.org/alaska-statewide-news/2026-07-08/ai-drones-and-salmon-what-new-technology-could-mean-for-bristol-bay-sockeye-counts", "outlet": "KMXT (republish of KDLG)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.kdlg.org/show/bristol-bay-fisheries-report/2026-07-06/bristol-bay-fisheries-report-july-6-2026", "outlet": "KDLG Bristol Bay Fisheries Report", "primary": false } ] } }, { "id": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-08/", "url": "https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-08/", "title": "Alaska's AI Land Rush, Four Rooms, One Open Door", "summary": "Alaska got more than 500 public comments on a $10 billion North Slope AI data center. Fewer than a dozen said yes.", "content_html": "

Alaska got more than 500 public comments on a $10 billion North Slope AI data center. Fewer than a dozen said yes.

\"Alaska's

Sources

Read the full deck with all 9 slides

", "content_text": "", "date_published": "2026-07-08T17:00:00Z", "image": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Talonsturgill/alaskaaicarousels/main/runs/2026-07-08/og.jpg", "tags": [ "AlaskaEnergy", "DataCenters", "ArcticInfrastructure" ], "_alaska_ai": { "slides": 9, "claims_verified": 85, "sources": [ { "url": "https://www.northernjournal.com/data-center-critics-flood-alaska-land-managers-with-opposition-to-north-slope-project/", "outlet": "Northern Journal", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=224224", "outlet": "Alaska DNR Division of Oil and Gas (Online Public Notices)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://aws.state.ak.us/OnlinePublicNotices/Notices/View.aspx?id=223817", "outlet": "Alaska DNR Division of Oil and Gas (Online Public Notices)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://northern.org/news/stak-energy-campus-what-the-states-lease-documents-reveal-about-scale-risk-and-unanswered-questions/", "outlet": "Northern Alaska Environmental Center", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.countryjournal2020.com/2026/07/alaskans-say-no-hell-no-to-north-slope.html", "outlet": "Copper River Country Journal (reprinting Herz)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4456660/daf-takes-steps-for-potential-alaskan-ai-data-centers/", "outlet": "U.S. Air Force (official release)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.alaskasnewssource.com/2026/06/09/us-military-plans-lease-alaska-land-ai-data-centers-community-responds/", "outlet": "Alaska's News Source", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/proposed-air-force-data-center-land-leases-raise-some-concerns/article_98cbed0c-6574-464a-8097-c054c46cb699.html", "outlet": "Fairbanks Daily News-Miner", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.executivegov.com/articles/matthew-lohmeier-air-force-visit-alaska-jber-eielson", "outlet": "ExecutiveGov", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.airandspaceforces.com/usaf-land-ai-data-centers-three-alaska-bases/", "outlet": "Air & Space Forces Magazine", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/gvea-board-to-weigh-heavy-purchase-decision-in-july-as-members-raise-concerns/article_c8b5ce9d-5c3a-46bf-b261-436ea4abe02b.html", "outlet": "Fairbanks Daily News-Miner", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://fm.kuac.org/energy-and-the-environment/2026-05-28/gvea-plans-extraordinarily-large-increase-in-co-op-fuel-charge", "outlet": "KUAC", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/politics/alaska-legislature/2026-07-06/alaska-lawmakers-roll-out-draft-compromise-tax-cut-bill-for-the-proposed-aklng-gas-line", "outlet": "Alaska Beacon via Alaska Public Media", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/environment/2026-07-08/ai-drones-and-salmon-what-new-technology-could-mean-for-bristol-bay-sockeye-counts", "outlet": "Alaska Public Media / KDLG", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://acmesmokedfish.com/pages/seafood-and-climate-initiatives", "outlet": "Acme Smoked Fish Foundation (funder)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.kdlg.org/show/bristol-bay-fisheries-report/2026-07-02/fish-numbers-july-2-2026", "outlet": "KDLG Bristol Bay Fisheries Report", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Alaska_gubernatorial_election", "outlet": "Wikipedia", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://akfireinfo.com/2026/06/26/air-resources-assist-with-several-new-lightning-fires-managed-by-u-s-wildland-fire-service/", "outlet": "Alaska Wildland Fire Information (interagency)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://akfireinfo.com/2026/07/06/cecil-fire-reaches-full-containment-big-fire-at-70-as-work-nears-end/", "outlet": "Alaska Wildland Fire Information (interagency)", "primary": false }, { "url": "https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/digital-twins-could-help-melt-mystery-alaskas-thawing-permafrost", "outlet": "Penn State University (news release)", "primary": false } ] } } ] }