For people trying to make sense of AI

Track AI's footprint without the spin.

AI FootprintTM tracks how AI is changing work, infrastructure, policy, health, science, education, and culture. The front page carries the most important headlines; the category pages carry today's full list by beat.

Updated September 28, 2026Latest edition September 28, 2026Front page editor's picksCategories full daily lists
Editorial image mapping AI's impacts across infrastructure, work, health, education, and policy

Headline articles · September 28

The strongest stories from the latest edition.

Environment

EIA AEO2026: data-center servers 7% of commercial electricity in 2025, path to 22%–33% of commercial-building use by 2050.

Commercial-server share path — not EPA G20 reuse; not IEA 485→950; not LBNL 649 TWh.

Read today’s coverage
Jobs

Dallas Fed: 10 pp higher automatable-task share tracks 1.7 pp drop in Texas employment for new graduates.

Texas graduate event study — not Cleveland Fed 3.1 pp; not ILO China 21/1,591; not Atlanta Fed 2.93%.

Read today’s coverage
Policy

GAO-26-107681: OMB AI guidance covers only 2 of 10 expert privacy challenges.

OMB guidance gap — not NIST AI 200-3; not AI 200-2; not SP 1353.

Read today’s coverage
Health & Science

IARC EUcanAI: 4-year Pathfinder starts 1 Sep 2026 for brain-tumour AI diagnosis and treatment.

Project launch — not FDA >1,600; not Anthropic ~950 wet lab.

Read today’s coverage

Daily beats

Each page has today's items for that lane.

Positive stories are included where they belong. A medical breakthrough goes under Health & Science. A job-gain story goes under Jobs. An energy-efficiency story goes under Environment.

Editorial standard

Useful, not theatrical.

1

Today means today.

Current pages carry the latest publishing window; older material goes to the archive.

2

One story, right lane.

Benefits are not siloed. Good news is filed under the category it affects.

3

Source dates matter.

Edition dates and story dates are kept separate.

4

Keep it human.

The point is to help readers see what changed and why it matters.

Origin

This started with buffalo cauliflower.

Frank made a funny AI image during a work trip. A coworker said it was wasteful and bad for the environment. Instead of dismissing that concern, he wanted a better answer: what does one AI use actually cost, and how should people think about all the bigger uses happening every day?

Read the origin story
Original AI image of a buffalo-cauliflower hybrid at a bowling alley that sparked AI Footprint
The playful image that turned into a serious question.