By Conor Grant

This is an edition of The Future of Everything newsletter, a look at how innovation and technology are transforming the way we live, work and play. If you're not subscribed, sign up here .

In the battle for AI dominance, every engine of the economy is getting recruited into the fight -- including jet engines.

This week, Jinjoo Lee reports on the companies converting aircraft engines into land-based natural gas turbines to power the AI boom.

Jet engine leasing and repair company FTAI Aviation plans to start selling a modified version of the engine used in the Boeing 737 to power data centers this year. Aircraft startup Boom Supersonic also said it plans to sell a modified version of its engine as a natural gas power turbine, and the AI data center startup Crusoe is its first customer.

How much AI-obsessed tech giants plan to spend in capital expenditures this year -- a cash pile that has already begun to generate creativity in the power sector.

Jet engines are a natural fit. Power equipment giants GE Vernova, Siemens Energy and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries already sell power turbines -- known as aeroderivatives -- modeled after these very engines. Yet many of these incumbents have yearslong waitlists for power turbines, opening up an opportunity for new market participants.

In an interview, FTAI Aviation President David Moreno said it takes the company 30 to 45 days to convert a jet engine to a power-generating turbine.

More on this topic:

   -- Google is spending big to build a lead in the AI energy race. (Read) 
 
   -- 📸 How much energy does your AI prompt use? We went to a data 
      center to find out. (Watch) 

🤔 How do you think converted jet engines will affect the power generation business, if at all? Send me your thoughts, questions and predictions at future@wsj.com (if you're reading this in your inbox, you can just hit reply).

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More of What's Next: How to Vibe-Code; TikTok's Hollywood Threat; Acing AI Interviews

Want to start vibe coding? Here's how. Creating your own AI-powered programs to automate tedious tasks can be daunting, but it's a lot easier than you think, writes Alexandra Samuel.

TikTok's Chinese parent has an app to replace Hollywood. Seedance 2.0, the new AI video-creation model from Beijing-based ByteDance, is generating buzz in China for its realistic scenes. It's also creating a backlash in Hollywood over copyright issues.

This is how to ace an AI job interview. To succeed in these increasingly common AI video assessments, candidates should rehearse their responses, avoid keyword stuffing and try not to act like robots themselves, writes Ray A. Smith.

Future Feedback

Last week, we reported on Anthropic's in-house AI morality teacher. Readers shared their thoughts on chatbots and morality:

   -- "Chatbots can 100% be taught a sense of morality, because they can be 
      taught nearly anything. What's more interesting to me are two questions. 
      First, how do we decide whether to teach them morals vs. ethics? Ethics 
      are rules that define allowable actions or behavior, while morals are 
      one's particular values of right and wrong, and are often shaped by 
      individual belief and circumstance. Second, who is in charge of 
      'teaching' either of these concepts to chatbots? If AI is teaching us 
      anything, it's that 'good' results typically emerge from more questions, 
      not fewer." -- Alexandra Cain, Rhode Island 
 
   -- "As I suspect many will comment, the more immediate concern is whether 
      one can teach AI's founders a sense of morality and social 
      responsibility. Aside from some Anthropic bright spots, I'd say the 
      outlook is grim." -- Leslie Lopato, California 
 
   -- "Socrates wanted to find out what virtue or excellence really is before 
      he is prepared to tackle how it is acquired. Moral excellence comes about 
      as a result of habit. Not by nature nor contrary to nature do moral 
      excellences arise in us, rather we are adapted by nature to receive them, 
      and made perfect by habit...it can't be taught. See Plato's Socratic 
      dialogue with Meno." -- John Kolbeck, Ohio 
 
   -- "I absolutely think chatbots can be taught morality...but not by 
      scientists or engineers, who are more likely to be nonreligious than the 
      general population, some polls show. This is the domain of world 
      religions, which have built up thousands of years of study, history, and 
      practice in developing morality. Not to sound like the setup for a joke, 
      but a good place to start would be talking to a Roman Catholic priest, a 
      rabbi, and a Protestant minister." -- Daniel Munyan, Pennsylvania 

(Responses have been condensed and edited.)

Elsewhere in the Future

   -- Chatbots are the new influencers brands must woo. (The New York Times) 
 
   -- Cats are giving us genetic clues to better cancer treatments. (Financial 
      Times) 
 
   -- Microsoft has a new plan to prove what's real and what's AI online. (MIT 
      Technology Review) 

About Us

Thanks for reading The Future of Everything. We cover the innovation and tech transforming the way we live, work and play. This newsletter was written by Conor Grant. Get in touch with us at future@wsj.com. Got a tip for us? Here's how to submit.

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February 20, 2026 11:55 ET (16:55 GMT)

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