Why America must win the AI race

During his State of the Union, President Donald Trump introduced a revolutionary relationship between government and corporations regarding energy. In any other era, such a paradigm shift would be front page news. Sadly, more time was spent discussing silly protestors in giraffe and frog costumes.

Energy policy is not always sexy, but it is the most crucial to our economy, national security, world peace, and human dignity. Energy announcements like this one deserve attention.

When it comes to electricity, President Trump announced major technology companies “…can build their own plant… It will ensure the company’s ability to get electricity, while at the same time, lowering prices of electricity for you.”

Revolutionary.

One of the biggest knocks on big business is the burdens imposed on the infrastructure and resources of local communities. Ask folks who saw the local farm get turned into an Amazon fulfillment center. The influx of cars and trucks creates traffic jams on once small, quiet country roads.

It’s a burden for the community, until you hit “buy now” and a critical item arrives on your doorstep a few hours later.

Amazon is not the bad guy. The same is true of tech companies regarding data centers.

The misconception that data centers’ power needs are driving up electricity costs (something often debunked by Energy Secretary Chris Wright) has sparked a nation-wide effort to ban their construction. Several states have pending legislation imposing moratoriums on data centers. Like the national debt and healthcare reform, legislators know the only real way to tackle an issue is to kick it down the road.

Hopefully the silliness of these arguments emphasizes the significance of Trump’s announcement, for nowhere else is “build your own power plant” an option. In any other industry, market demand leads to opportunity. Twenty years ago, few had heard of a craft brewery, but the demand for local, microbrews led many into the business.

You can start a craft brewery, and the marketplace and quality of beer will determine your success. You can start a sourdough bakery, an organic dogfood company, a hemp poncho store. You do not have that option with electricity production. Aspiring entrepreneurs cannot jump into the electricity business and build a power plant.

But technology companies can and for two very good reasons: they have the demand for the product and they have the resources to make it happen.

This announcement is a paradigm shift. Government is empowering the private sector to shoulder the risks and rewards of their utilities. For tech companies eager to get data centers constructed an operational, this is welcome news. Nobody moves slower than government, so Trump is getting government out of the way.

It is also a paradigm shift because it ends the corporate hostage negotiations with local government which have become an ungodly accepted part of business development. No one abuses this more than professional sports teams. “Build us a new stadium, or we’re out of here,” says every owner to their local mayor. Billionaire owners demand state legislation to provide funding for a facility so that men making $40 million a year can play a game, or they threaten to leave a city which loves and values them.

Contrast that to Trump’s announcement. If you want a data center, go ahead and get the electricity you need and while you’re at it that of the local community, too. Threat of leaving has turned into opportunity for staying, without the taxpayers on the hook to provide the funding.

Will it work? Opponents will no doubt find reasons to delay, but we do not have the luxury of time. AI is moving at the speed of AI, and only our indecision will prevent this technology from being dominated by a nation which has several million people enslaved. If Communist China wins the AI race, that last line would not be published, as AI will edit it from the free speech of the Internet faster than website managers can put it back in.

We cannot afford to lose the AI race to the communists, and we must believe that with the same passion President Reagan believed we could not afford to lose the Cold War to them, either. President Trump proposed a revolutionary, paradigm shifting means to achieve it where we all benefit. May we be as bold to embrace it as he was to propose it. No delay. No hesitation. Only courage and determination to Power The Future for freedom.

Daniel Turner is the founder and executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. He also runs a sheep and cattle farm in rural Virginia. Contact him at daniel@powerthefuture.com and follow him on Twitter @DanielTurnerPTF