Trump ups the ante in US-China race for AI dominance

The $500 billion Stargate investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure aims at outpacing Beijing

Before he had been in office for 48 hours, US President Donald Trump sent a clear signal that to outpace China, his administration would pursue an aggressive agenda on AI.

On his first day in office, he rescinded an executive order signed in 2023 by former President Joe Biden that sought to place guardrails around the development of more powerful generative artificial intelligence tools.

Twenty-four hours later, Trump met with the leaders of several major technology firms, including Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI, Larry Ellison, the chairman of Oracle, and Masayoshi Son, the CEO of SoftBank.

He then announced a US$500 billion private sector investment in AI infrastructure known as Stargate in a media event at the White House on Tuesday:

Beginning immediately, Stargate will be building the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of advancements in AI, and this will include the construction of colossal data centers.

AI systems

Stargate will invest in as many as 10 huge data centers in the United States that will provide computing for AI systems. 

The first data center is already under construction in Texas, creating up to 100,000 American jobs, the executives said, with Trump adding:

What we want to do is, we want to keep it in this country. China is a competitor, and others are competitors. We want it to be in this country, and we’re making it available. I’m going to help a lot through emergency declarations because we have an emergency. We have to get this stuff built.

President Donald Trump has signed off on Stargate. Photo: Flickr

The assembled tech leaders took the opportunity to praise the new president. “I think this will be the most important project of this era,” Altman said. “We wouldn’t be able to do this without you, Mr. President.”

Janet Egan, a senior fellow in the technology and national security program at the Center for a New American Security, said that all the signals Trump is sending indicate he is serious about maintaining the United States’ advantages in advanced AI.

“I think this shows that he’s going to have a really clear mind as to how to partner closely with the private sector to enable them to speed up and run fast,” Egan said before adding:

We’ve also seen him take direct action on some of the bottlenecks that are impeding the development of AI infrastructure in the US, and a particular focus is energy.

Policy paper

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has relied on Microsoft data centers for its computing. The firm reportedly discussed with the Biden administration the regulatory hurdles of planning and permitting when building them.

In a policy paper released this month, OpenAI cited the competition with China, laying out its proposals to “extending America’s global leadership in AI innovation,” pointing out:

Chips, data, energy and talent are the keys to winning on AI – and this is a race America can and must win. 

“There’s an estimated $175 billion sitting in global funds awaiting investment in AI, and if the US doesn’t attract those funds, they will flow to China-backed projects, strengthening the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence,” the paper said.

AI Data Centers consume vast amounts of power. Image: Creative Commons

Patrick Hedger, the director of policy at NetChoice, a technology trade association, told Voice of America that the Stargate announcement “immediately signaled that private capital is willing to come off the sidelines with the new Trump administration.”

As part of his flurry of executive orders, Trump eliminated several preexisting limits on fossil fuel extraction and power generation. 

In the White House event on Monday, he also noted that AI data centers consume vast amounts of electricity and said he would be clearing the way for Stargate and other private companies to invest in new energy generation projects.

While he eliminated many of Biden’s executive orders immediately, he does not appear to have taken action against some of the former president’s other AI-related initiatives.

Advanced semiconductors

Last year, Biden took several steps to restrict China’s access to cutting-edge technology related to AI. They included restricting the ability of companies that sell advanced semiconductors and the machinery used to produce them to Chinese firms.

On that issue, Egan at the Center for a New American Security said Trump and Biden appear to be on the same page:

I think it’s important to also note the continuity in how Trump’s approaching AI. He, too, sees it as a national security risk and national security imperative … So, I think we should expect to see this run-fast approach to AI complemented by continued efforts to understand and manage emerging risks. 

“Particularly cyber, nuclear, biological risks, as well as a more muscular approach to export controls and enforcement,” Egan said.

Dealing with the risks of AI. Image: Courtesy of CGTN

Louis Rosenberg, the CEO and chief scientist at Unanimous AI and a prominent figure in the field for decades, told VOA in an email that he thinks there is a bipartisan consensus that AI needs to be developed speedily but also responsibly, adding:

At the highest level, the accelerating risks around frontier AI is not a partisan issue. Both parties realize that significant safeguards will be needed as AI gets increasingly intelligent and flexible, especially as autonomous AI agents get released at large scale.

‘Real threats’

Rosenberg said the most significant question is how the US can remain the global leader in AI development while making sure the systems that are deployed are safe and reliable, adding:

I suspect the Trump administration will address AI risks by deploying its own targeted policies that are not as broad as the Biden executive order was but can address real threats much faster.

“The Biden executive order was useful in raising the alarm about AI, but from a practical perspective, it did not provide meaningful protections from emerging risks,” he wrote.

“Ultimately we need to find a way to move fast on AI development and move fast on AI protection. We need speed on both fronts,” Rosenberg said.

Michelle Quinn, the Voice of America’s Silicon Valley bureau chief, contributed to this report.

Rob Garver is a freelance journalist.

This article is republished courtesy of Voice of America. Read the original article here.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of China Factor.