A buzzy data center startup calls itself a utility. That could be a problem.

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• Fermi, a data center startup, has pitched itself as a utility built to power the AI boom.
• But the company is a REIT, a corporate structure that limits how much power it can sell.
• In the world of AI, companies aren't just pitching power — they're pitching a financial structure.

At a Wall Street conference in December, Toby Neugebauer, the CEO of Fermi America, pitched his company as a cutting-edge utility built to power the artificial intelligence boom.