This Month's Latest Tech News in Midland, TX - Sunday August 31st 2025 Edition

Midland weekly commentary: Permian energy meets AI demand - a turning point - New Era Helium's Texas Critical Data Centers (TCDC) joint venture with Sharon AI is converting Permian energy into AI-ready capacity with a planned 250 MW, net‑zero AI/HPC campus on a 235‑acre Ector County parcel (expandable), a move that could anchor local jobs and infrastructure while tapping behind‑the‑meter power.

Recent filings show a power MOU with PowerForward Energy Solutions to deliver 250 MW of on‑site generation and carbon management plans that aim to sequester roughly 250,000 metric tons of CO₂ annually; Phase 1 targets 100 MW online within 12 months of funding.

Read the TCDC site update on New Era's site and the Data Center Frontier overview for the sustainability and timeline details.

Attribute	Detail
Project	250 MW AI/HPC campus (TCDC)
Site	235‑acre Ector County parcel, option to expand
Partners	New Era Helium & Sharon AI; PFES power MOU
Power plan	On‑site natural gas generation + CCUS (~250,000 tCO₂/yr)
Phase 1	100 MW targeted within 12 months of funding

“With the initial site now identified and due diligence well underway, TCDC is positioned to execute on its planned power strategy for the behind-the-meter data center campus. Concurrently, TCDC is in negotiations to secure offtake from intrastate and interstate natural gas transmission lines located in close proximity to the property. We are excited about what we are building in Ector County and believe that access to low-cost, reliable power is key to attracting top-tier partners. As we expand our strategic focus to include natural gas and data center infrastructure, we are positioning New Era Helium to deliver long-term value across multiple energy verticals.”

1) New Era Helium / TCDC LOI for 250MW AI/HPC campus (July 1, 2025) - On July 1 TCDC, the 50/50 joint venture between New Era Helium and Sharon AI, signed a non‑binding LOI to acquire a roughly 200‑acre site in Ector County and advance a purpose‑built, 250 MW net‑zero AI/HPC campus designed for behind‑the‑meter natural gas power, liquid cooling and CCUS capacity; the deal aims to pair local Permian energy with Sharon AI's GPU‑heavy HPC stack and was reported in BIC Magazine and confirmed in the Sharon AI press release.

The LOI frames land acquisition, a power arrangement for up to 250 MW, and fast‑tracked site work with nearby fiber and gas transmission lines - a project that quickly moved from LOI to a larger 235‑acre close later in July, underscoring how regional energy assets are being repurposed for AI scale.

Read the BIC Magazine coverage of the TCDC LOI and the Data Center Dynamics report for details on timelines and power strategy.

Attribute	Detail
LOI date	July 1, 2025
JV partners	New Era Helium & Sharon AI (TCDC)
Site	LOI ~200 acres (later closed on 235 acres)
Capacity	250 MW (phase 1: 100 MW by Dec 2026)
Power / tech	Behind‑the‑meter natural gas engines; CCUS, liquid cooling

“This agreement marks a pivotal step in aligning our energy platform with the surging demand for AI infrastructure. By combining our strategically located assets in the Permian Basin with a next‑gen AI partner, we're unlocking a powerful opportunity to participate in the digital buildout of tomorrow's economy right at the intersection of energy and innovation.”

BIC Magazine LOI coverage of the TCDC AI/HPC campus deal | Data Center Dynamics report on TCDC site, timelines, and power strategy

2) Phase 1 launched: TCDC 250MW project website and milestones (April 16, 2025) - On April 16 New Era Helium announced the formal kick‑off of Phase 1 for the Texas Critical Data Centers 250 MW AI/HPC campus, publishing a project hub at Texas Critical Data Centers project hub and a detailed update on New Era Helium NASDAQ press release on Phase 1 launch.

Key execution items include closing the expanded 235‑acre site, securing lit fiber and natural‑gas supply lines, finalizing power plant designs using reciprocating engines with planned CO2 capture, and go‑to‑market talks with potential customers; the team targeted getting roughly 100 MW online by December 2026 with the balance shortly thereafter.

The launch turns local Permian energy assets into near‑term compute capacity - literally plumbing gas, fiber, and CCUS together to power GPU racks at hyperscale.

Attribute	Detail
Project website	https://www.texascriticaldatacenters.com
Site	235 acres (closing within ~90 days)
Phase 1 target	100 MW online by Dec 2026
Power tech	Reciprocating natural‑gas engines + CO2 capture

“Our strategic vision has always been centered around enabling critical infrastructure through reliable, scalable energy solutions. With the first phase of the data center development project now underway and a clear path to activation in 2026, we are taking significant steps toward building an energy-integrated platform that supports the future of AI, HPC, and semiconductor innovation.”

3) New Era Helium strategic pivot toward energy + AI infrastructure (April 9, 2025) - The company announced a clear reframing of its Permian assets, rebranding to New Era Energy & Digital to turn helium and natural gas reserves into “powered land” and turnkey “powered shells” that host AI and HPC campuses; the formal rebrand and corporate rationale are posted on New Era's site and covered in industry press like New Era Energy & Digital rebrand announcement and corporate rationale and in analyses such as the gasworld analysis of New Era's rebranding and AI data-centre strategy.

The shift centers on the Texas Critical Data Centers JV with Sharon AI (a scalable campus up to 1 GW) and recent commercial steps - a 250 MW PowerForward MOU for behind‑the‑meter power and an aggressive first‑phase target of roughly 100 MW online within 12 months of funding - turning local energy infrastructure into direct fuel for GPU-dense compute; imagine a Permian parcel retooled from well pad to hyper‑efficient liquid‑cooled GPU park, a vivid example of how energy and compute stacks are being physically fused in place.

Attribute	Detail
Rebrand / ticker	New Era Energy & Digital (will trade as NUAI)
Strategic focus	Powered land, powered shells, behind‑the‑meter power for AI/HPC
JV / project	Texas Critical Data Centers (with Sharon AI)
Capacity targets	250 MW planned (site scalable to 1 GW); Phase 1 ≈100 MW within 12 months of funding
Power arrangement	250 MW MOU with PowerForward Energy Solutions (behind‑the‑meter)

“With a growing base of vertically integrated assets, from powered land to powered shells, we bring deep infrastructure and energy expertise to help hyperscale, enterprise, and edge operators deploy future-ready HPC campuses faster.”

4) TCDC closes on 235-acre Permian site; room to scale to 1GW (July 29, 2025) - Texas Critical Data Centers (TCDC), the 50/50 JV between New Era Helium and Sharon AI, has closed on 235 acres in Ector County with an exclusive LOI for an additional 203 acres, giving the project a potential 438-acre footprint and room to scale well beyond 1 GW of AI/HPC capacity; the site sits near fiber, multiple intrastate gas transmission lines and CO₂ pipeline infrastructure, and the buildout is anchored by reciprocating natural‑gas engines with plans for liquid cooling and potential CCUS. Phase sequencing targets roughly 100 MW online by December 2026 with the remaining 150 MW about six months later, while TCDC plans to form an Industrial District with Odessa to speed access to municipal water and wastewater without surrendering favorable county zoning.

This closing turns a Permian parcel into a strategic intersection of cheap, local power and GPU‑heavy compute - see the Data Center Dynamics coverage and the BusinessWire release for the company details and expansion option.

Attribute	Detail
Acquisition	235 acres from Grow Odessa (closed)
Expansion option	LOI for additional 203 acres (total potential 438 acres)
Initial capacity	250 MW planned (Phase 1: 100 MW by Dec 2026)
Power tech	Reciprocating natural‑gas engines; MoU with PowerForward for onsite generation; CCUS potential
Infrastructure nearby	Fiber, intrastate gas lines, CO₂ pipeline infrastructure
Zoning / buildout	Applying to form Industrial District with City of Odessa to retain Ector County zoning

“Closing on this site marks a key milestone in aligning Permian Basin energy assets with AI/HPC growth, transforming resources into critical digital infrastructure for scalable growth and shareholder value.”

5) Midland startup spotlight - A.I. Driller scales rig automation/software (May 21, 2025) - Midland's own AI Driller is turning noisy, siloed rig data into one cloud-native operations suite that promises real‑time analytics, anti‑collision alerts, remote directional control and turnkey well planning; the company's AI Cloud, AI Spaces and AI Tools consolidate what users describe as “10,000 Excel workbooks” into a single browser experience, accelerating decisions on multiple rigs and cutting hours of analysis to minutes.

Built for drilling and completions workflows, the platform touts automated alerts, geosteering visualization, API integration and a system-of-record for daily reporting - features that echo industry-wide gains in autonomous drilling and remote operations highlighted in the Journal of Petroleum Technology coverage of automation trends.

For Midland, that means a local startup translating Permian field operations into actionable, low‑latency insights that can improve safety, speed up ROP and scale remote‑steering capabilities across fleets.

Attribute	Detail
Company	AI Driller, Inc.
HQ / Address	1801 W Wall St., Midland, TX
Products	AI Cloud, AI Spaces, AI Tools
Key features	Real-time analytics, anti-collision alerts, remote directional drilling, API integrations, automated reporting
Website	AI Driller platform and product hub

“AI Driller is an absolute game changer. We now have access to drilling, directional, casing, inventory and more all in one central place. Instead of 10,000 excel workbooks, I open one webpage and have all of the information for my well in one place...” - Pete Stetson, Senior Drilling Engineer, DEEP Energy

6) Regional megaproject: Fermi America & Texas Tech 11GW AI campus in Panhandle (July 2, 2025) - The Texas Tech University System and Fermi America unveiled an ambitious Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus on roughly 5,800 acres near Amarillo that aims to deliver up to 11 GW of IT capacity across 18 million square feet of data centers, pairing a behind‑the‑meter “HyperGrid” of nuclear, natural gas, solar, wind and grid power with battery storage and workforce programs to anchor regional AI growth; the official TTU announcement and Enverus' analysis both flag the project's scale, proximity to major gas pipelines and plans to have the first gigawatt online by 2026, positioning the Panhandle as a national hub for energy‑intensive AI while promising academic ties, internships and an excellence fund to support research and training in the region.

Attribute	Detail
Site	~5,800 acres (near Pantex / Amarillo)
IT capacity	Up to 11 GW
Data center area	18 million sq ft
Energy mix	Nuclear, combined‑cycle gas, solar, wind, utility grid, batteries
First power milestone	1 GW target by end of 2026
Partners	Texas Tech University System & Fermi America (co‑founded by Rick Perry)

“The Texas Tech University System is proud to partner with Fermi America on this historic endeavor,” said Chancellor Tedd L. Mitchell, M.D.

7) Texas DPS AI surveillance expansion and state legislative debate (Mar–May 2025) - Reporting shows the Texas Department of Public Safety has rapidly stitched together an AI‑driven surveillance stack under Operation Lone Star that pairs tools like Tangles, Cellebrite, license‑plate camera networks and a Clearview AI feed trained on over 40 billion scraped images with proprietary analytics (Spart‑N) and a wildlife‑camera grid that produces roughly 250,000 images per day - a scale that privacy advocates warn looks less like targeted policing and more like continuous population‑scale monitoring.

Legislative efforts so far have produced an advisory council with no enforcement teeth, a rewritten House bill (HB149) that pares back restrictions, and a Senate bill (SB1964) that mandates impact assessments but shields them from public disclosure, leaving transparency thin while contracts and renewals (including a reported $1.2M Clearview extension) keep flowing.

For a clear overview of the program's scope and concerns, see the Biometric Update coverage and the Pulitzer Center's investigative project on Texas' AI surveillance arsenal.

Attribute	Detail
Major tools	Clearview AI (facial recognition), Tangles (phone/web tracking), Cellebrite, LEARN/Flock plate cameras, Spart‑N analytics
Clearview contract	Reported $1.2M extension through 2030
Tangles spending	Nearly $1M since 2021 for licenses
Operation Drawbridge scale	~9,000 cameras producing ~250,000 images/day
Legislative posture	Advisory council + HB149/SB1964 offer limited transparency or enforceable constraints

“Requests were kind of slow coming in … but over time I think we're starting to see them pick up a lot more.” - Major Brian Lamberson, Dallas Police Department

8) Visa and AI agents enable agent-based commerce (April 30, 2025) - Visa has begun piloting “Intelligent Commerce,” a payments bridge that lets designated AI agents shop and pay on consumers' behalf, pairing the payments giant with AI developers from OpenAI and Anthropic to Perplexity, Microsoft and Mistral and partners like IBM, Stripe and Samsung; pilots launched April 30 with broader rollouts expected next year.

The pitch is simple and concrete: set spending limits and preferences, give an agent vetted access to your Visa credentials, and it can handle routine errands - groceries, a sweater, or even booking travel (Forestell suggested agents might eventually spend up to $1,500 to get you from A to B).

Visa frames the move as solving the “payments problem” for agentic AI by providing tokenization, authentication and dispute handling while preserving consumer consent and transaction controls - see the Associated Press coverage and Visa's Intelligent Commerce overview for program specifics.

Attribute	Detail
Pilot launch	April 30, 2025; wider use expected in 2026
Key partners	Anthropic, Microsoft, OpenAI, Perplexity, Mistral, IBM, Stripe, Samsung
Consumer controls	Spending limits, consent to share transaction history, designated-agent authorization
Use cases	Shopping discovery, groceries, travel bookings, business renewals
Payment features	Tokenization, authentication, Visa Agent APIs, dispute resolution

“We think this could be really important … Transformational, on the order of magnitude of the advent of e-commerce itself.” - Jack Forestell, Visa

9) Environmental monitoring: Percepto AI drones detecting methane in Permian operations (2025) - Percepto's autonomous, AI‑augmented drone fleet is scaling methane surveillance across the Permian by pairing optical gas imaging (OGI) payloads with real‑time analysis, giving operators full‑site visibility down to component level without boots on the ground; field validation at METEC and live Permian sites shows consistent detection at 100 g/hr with 90% confidence, effective sensing out to roughly 250 feet and resilient performance (≈300 g/hr) in high winds.

Already deployed with a handful of Permian operators and supported by a Midland operational hub, the system automates scheduled OGI missions, flags verified leaks with geolocation and timestamps, and reduces the need to dispatch crews - an approach Percepto says helps firms meet rising compliance and investor expectations while keeping inspection costs and headcount in check.

Backed by these test results, Percepto has submitted an EPA Alternative Test Method application (approval expected in 2025), a near‑term regulatory alignment that could let operators scale remote OGI inspections across the basin; read Percepto's field validation report and the company's AI Emission Detector announcement for the technical and operational details.

Attribute	Detail
Field‑validated detection	100 g/hr at 90% confidence
Performance in wind	Consistent detection down to 300 g/hr
Range	Effective detection up to ~250 ft from component
Deployments	10–20 drones across ~4 Permian operators; Midland hub established
Regulatory status	EPA ATM submitted; approval expected in 2025

“The industry has been asking how to scale OGI without scaling field operations. This is the answer.” - Dor Abuhasira, CEO, Percepto

10) Talent & education pipeline: regional university programs expand AI/VR/cyber training - The University of Texas Permian Basin is turning immersive tech into workforce-ready skills with two homegrown research tracks that pair VR scenarios and AI classroom simulators to train both students with special needs and the educators who support them; early pilots - developed by UTPB's College of Education and Information Technology Services with the Bynum School - include a 360° VR cooking module that translated into a student following a real‑world recipe and an AI-driven classroom sandbox (built around ChatGPT) that lets teachers practice responses to meltdowns or distractions and receive rubric‑based feedback.

These applied projects, covered in UTPB's research hub and local reporting, signal a practical pipeline for regional AI/VR/cyber talent that can crossover into oilfield safety simulation and other high‑impact trades while expanding this fall to broader teacher training and community deployments; see UTPB's research announcement and the NewsWest9 coverage for details.

“This allows them to experience those uncomfortable environments knowing they're safe. Knowing they can take the headset off and they're back where they're expected to be.” - Curtis Rogers, Senior Instructional Analyst, UTPB

Conclusion: What Midland should watch next - power, workforce, and governance - Midland is now squarely in the crosshairs of large-scale AI buildout: the TCDC JV has closed 235 acres with an exclusive LOI to expand to 438 acres, positioning a purpose‑built, GPU‑dense campus that can scale beyond 1 GW and pair behind‑the‑meter natural‑gas generation with liquid cooling and CCUS (see the Business Wire closing announcement and the Data Center Frontier analysis of the project's power and sustainability approach).

That means three local priorities: first, power - monitor how on‑site engines, the PowerForward MOU and CO₂ management shapes dispatch, costs and grid relations; second, workforce - rapidly growing demand for AI operators, data‑center technicians, and cyber talent suggests Midland should invest in retraining now (practical routes include Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work bootcamp registration to build prompt, tooling, and applied AI skills for non‑technical roles); and third, governance - watch the Industrial District plans and zoning moves with Odessa that will determine permitting speed, municipal services access, and public oversight as heavy‑compute footprints arrive.

If these levers are managed well, the Permian could convert cheap local energy into durable local jobs rather than transient construction lifts.

Attribute	Detail
Site	235 acres closed (exclusive LOI to expand +203 acres → 438 acres total)
Planned capacity	250 MW initial project; scalable beyond 1 GW
Phase 1 target	~100 MW online by Dec 2026
Power approach	Behind‑the‑meter natural gas engines, liquid cooling, potential CCUS
Zoning	Applying to form Industrial District with City of Odessa to retain Ector County zoning

“Closing on this site marks a key milestone in our strategy to align Permian Basin energy assets with the explosive growth in AI and HPC demand. It advances our long-term vision to transform these resources into critical digital infrastructure, creating a high-impact, future-ready platform that will deliver scalable growth and meaningful value for shareholders.” - E. Will Gray II, CEO, New Era Helium, Inc.