Reuters says "AI optimism reignites" and lifts the Nasdaq to a record; The New York Times says Wall Street is "growing skeptical" of the data-centre boom

Three reports, one hour, two readings. Reuters, CNBC and The New York Times published within 11 minutes of each other on Monday afternoon, New York time. Two describe a rally. One describes doubt.

Not quite the same subject. The Times writes about delayed listings, not Monday's trading. Both readings can be true at once.

Who acts. Two separate blind readings agree. Reuters gives a mood, "AI optimism", as the cause, and names no buyer, seller or news. The Times calls the centres "energy guzzling" in its own voice and gives no count, place or voice for the backlash.

What is not settled - Whether the Nasdaq closed at a record. Reuters's report is timed about 90 minutes before the 4pm New York close. - Why Intel rose. CNBC's headline promises a reason; the text we hold does not give it. - Which companies delayed listings, and how many. - What the centres use. No report gives a figure for power, water or jobs.

What this is about. Whether the money pouring into artificial intelligence, above all into data centres, is a lasting boom or a bet running ahead of itself.

How it got here. OpenAI released ChatGPT in November 2022. Since then the largest US technology companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta, have raced to build data centres. These are warehouses of servers that train and run AI models. Nvidia, which designs the chips most of them use, became one of the most valuable companies in the world. Those companies weigh heavily in the Nasdaq Composite, an index of shares listed on the Nasdaq exchange in New York. So AI spending has become a main driver of US share prices.

Data centres use a lot of electricity, and often water for cooling. In several US states, residents and local officials have opposed new sites over power bills, strain on the grid and land use.

The actors. - Investors, whose buying and selling sets share prices. - Companies that build or supply data centres. Some want to raise money by selling shares to the public for the first time, in an initial public offering. - Intel, the US chipmaker best known for the CPU, the general-purpose processor. It has lost ground to Nvidia in AI chips. - The communities where the centres are built and whose power grids supply them.

Treasury yields are the interest rates the US government pays when it borrows. When they fall, profits expected years from now are worth more today, and that tends to lift the shares of fast-growing firms. Reuters links the two on Monday.

What is at stake. If the spending pays off, the companies grow into their share prices. If it does not, the losses fall on shareholders, including pension funds, and on the places that took on the power demand.

Where it stands. On Monday afternoon, the reports we hold describe share prices rising and share listings being put off.