Next Stop in the President’s AI Buildout: The World
By Paul Steidler: In what may go down as the mother of all economic development events, President Trump yesterday announced $90 billion in investments for the construction of AI data centers and related energy facilities just for the state of Pennsylvania. He spoke before 60 CEOs at an extraordinary meeting at Carnegie Mellon University.
This is the latest in a series of major AI announcements the President has made, and it marks a sharp turnaround from six months ago when there was hesitancy in official DC to promote AI. Indeed, the White House lists $1.6 trillion in U.S. investments that the President has announced and helped secure for all sectors of the economy.
There is another formidable task at hand for the administration: making sure the U.S. is the predominant provider of AI technology worldwide for years to come.
Vice President J.D. Vance spoke about this in Paris in February, where he said his first main point was to convey: “This administration will ensure that American AI technology continues to be the gold standard worldwide and we are the partner of choice for others – foreign countries and certainly businesses – as they expand their own use of AI.”
Right now, the world has two countries it can turn to for help in building AI data centers: the U.S. and China. An essential step that the administration can take here is to promptly issue clear guidelines about the diffusion of the most powerful AI chips to other countries.
While there are strong, legitimate concerns about large amounts of these chips falling into China’s hands, undue restrictions on sending these chips to friendly countries are also highly problematic. It will provide incentive for other countries to turn to China for inferior Chinese chips and for China to further accelerate its development of such high-end chips.
A near-term, important step that should be taken is to allow U.S. companies building data centers abroad in friendly or neutral countries to utilize U.S. high-end chips there. This would amount to U.S. companies shipping to themselves overseas. It would provide much-needed clarity as U.S. companies and other countries evaluate massive data center announcements, like those unveiled in Pennsylvania. It will strengthen America’s lead in AI over China.
These issues are likely to be addressed to some degree in the White House’s AI Action Plan, which is due to be announced on July 22. That is understandable, as the AI Action Plan focuses on AI domestically, and the issues with chips are complex, especially with international partners.
There are abundant opportunities to use U.S. AI in friendly and even neutral countries before China does. To keep that advantage and maximize opportunities for U.S. businesses, the Trump Administration should issue these guidelines soon. This will ensure we are the partner of choice, as the Vice President discussed.