# Tech Infrastructure Costs, Commerce Content, and Data Expansion

**Podcast:** TechCrunch Daily Crunch
**Published:** 2026-04-28

## Transcript

This is TechCrunch.
This is not the future we were promised.
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From the BBC, this is The Interface, the show that explores how tech is rewiring your week and your world.
This isn't about quarterly earnings or about tech reviews.
It's about what technology is actually doing to your work and your politics, your everyday life.
And all the bizarre ways people are using the internet.
Listen on bbc.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
It's Spotify's next frontier fitness content.
I'm Imran Sheik and your Tuesday Daily Crunch featuring three big tech headlines starts right now.
Tech companies, including Microsoft and Meta, have been falling in love with natural gas lately, rushing to build power plants fed by the fossil fuel to drive their data centers.
But their embrace might be a little too tight.
You see, the cost to build one of the facilities has spiked 66% in the last two years, according to a new report from Bloomberg NEF.
Now, while natural gas prices remain low in the U.S.
despite the ongoing war in Iran, the price to build a new combined cycle gas turbine, CCGT, power plant has risen from less than $1,500 per kilowatt of generating capacity in 2023 to $2,157 last year, the report said.
Also, it now takes 23% longer to complete a new facility.
Data centers are one of the main drivers of a surge in demand for electricity, pushing not just tech companies to invest in natural gas, but utilities as well.
Data center operators have been urged by the Trump administration to bring their own power, but utilities tend to pass on the cost of new generation to customers.
That's led to a growing backlash to data centers among the general public.
While data centers aren't the only driver of new demand for electricity, they are one of the fastest-growing users.
New additions are expected to reach 2.7x current demand, pushing it up from 40 GW today to 106 GW by 2035.
Part of the driver is the sheer scale of new data centers.
Today, only 10% of facilities are 50 MW or larger.
Over the next decade, the average data center will be larger than 100 MW.
Amazon's podcasting business has transformed over the past six months, according to the New York Times.
You see, back in August 2025, the company reportedly eliminated more than 100 jobs from its podcast studio, Wondery.
At the time, Amazon insisted it was not shutting Wondery down.
And that appears to be technically true.
It still uses the Wondery brand.
But the New York Times said Amazon took a sledgehammer to the studio.
Audio-only podcasts now operate under Audible, while a new department called Creator Services works with on-camera celebrities like Dax Shepard, Kiki Palmer, and Jason and Travis Kelsey.
For example, the company said it's creating an expanding universe around the Kelsey brothers' new heights with monetization plans that go far beyond standard podcast ads.
There's a new section on Amazon called Kelsey Clubhouse where fans can buy new heights merchandise, watch the documentary Kelsey and purchase recommended products for a football watching party.
In the words of creator services general manager Matt Sandler, Amazon is trying to infuse both the content and the commerce.
together.
Of course, other online creators are also betting on commerce, but according to the New York Times, Amazon is the only one that dismembered a company to get here.
After expanding into podcasts, audiobooks, video, and even physical books, Spotify on Monday announced its next big category, drumroll please, Fitness content.
Yeah, the company is building on its reputation as a hub for energizing playlists for your workout to, well, actually become the home to your workout itself.
Now, to do so, Spotify has partnered with a number of established wellness creators and the exercise equipment maker Peloton.
Workouts from these providers will be accessible from a new fitness hub within the app or by typing in the term fitness in the search box.
Their content, in the form of both music and video, will be available across Spotify's apps on mobile, desktop, and TVs.
At launch, both free and premium users will be able to access dozens of playlists and instructional workout content from creators including Yoga with Cassandra, Caitlin Kelly Yoga, Sweaty Studio, Chloe Ting, Pilates Body by Raven, Abby Mills Wellness, and others.
Meanwhile, the partnership with Peloton brings over 1,400 ad-free on-demand workout classes from many of its well-known instructors to Spotify's premium users in select markets.
Spotify notes that its decision to invest in fitness content was based on data from its users, as nearly 70% of its premium subscribers work out monthly, and there are over 150 million fitness playlists on the service.
The company also saw increased demand for workout music after the recent launch of its AI-powered prompted playlist feature.
And folks, that's your Daily Crunch.
Today's stories were reported by Sarah Perez, Anthony Ha, Tim Deschamps and more awesome TechCrunch journalists.
We'll see you here tomorrow.
Same Tech Time, same Crunch channel.
And until then, find us at TechCrunch.com.
Amazon opens the doors with up to 4.500€ per year for professional training.
The participation is required.