AI is no longer an emerging technology. Here, and it becomes a bedrock of modern civilization. As electricity changes in the 20th century and the Internet has changed on 21st, AI is renewing how we work, manage, and live. Shortly thereafter, every major institution, from hospitals to military, will include AI in their major operations, raising the stakes for the infrastructure undergoing it.
Despite this request, our infrastructure is not maintained. In 2024 the US data centers used ~ 200 Terawatt-Hour of electricityEnough in the power of Thailand for a year. Both estimates hold that by 2028, the use of AI power is predicted to reach between 165 and 326 Terawatt-Hour annually, enough to handle 22% of US households. AI workloads drive energy and compute systems beyond their limitations, creating an exponential demand that leaves our grid strength caught as it struggles to measure even with increase.
This mismatch is more than a technical issue. As a demand for the AI ramps up, bottlenecks in the national energy supply and calculating access has slowed down in each sector, limiting its potential change.
The United States is leading, so far. But we’re in a sprint, and China gets the ground. Their DeepSeek Model R1 Rivals top-tier US models. Deepseek’s success proves that speed, size and efficiency can radically move the balance of AI’s global power. China’s Ai Push is well funded, coordinated and strategic. If the Deepseek is any indication of China’s momentum, we are far behind them.
It doesn’t matter who will lead the algorithms if the US continues to treat infrastructure as a thought, because we are on track to lose the platform war. The future of AI should be built on freedom, transparency, and trust, non -monitoring and control. That’s the edge of America – and we must prioritize the energy crisis it created.
In this context, massive, centralized data centers are no longer used. They are strict, expensive, and confined to a geography location. Worse, they Create single failures of failure. If a electric grid decreases or overheated, an entire segment of the country is placed at a technological dark age.
In contrast, Decentralized systems are free of our potentialallowing modern American to measure with agility. Smaller compute clusters can run near the resources of localized energy -related energy, such as solar, wind, or geothermal energy, or take advantage of the underutilized compute power sitting in houses, campuses, and communities. Decentralized systems are a better position with American technology to survive in a world where threats are increasingly moving into digital space. In times of crisis, or cyberattacks from incredible -believed actorsCompute distribution to individual nodes ensures continuity, while centralized systems have fallen.
The way forward
So what’s the path forward?
We start by thinking of the shared infrastructure, making it easier and more useful to develop more than hyperscale facilities. We fund federal research and development for shared computing to accelerate change in the public and the private sector. To pose a computing edge enabled by local clean energy, we open federal soil and institutions. And finally, we streamline support for future generations of energy as well as Advanced nuclear gridsSo the future grid can match the volume of AI energy demand.
Through this procedure, we reduce permit delays and release natural value to our country’s ownership, from rural exchanges to decommission -industrial zones. Our energy crisis cannot be solved by a single repair. But combined, these steps serve as an elastic model for America to lead AI development.
This shift is more than repairing our energy bottleneck -it is re -accessing access. Can of developers Develop independently of Big Tech without begging for compute. These infrastructure policies level the field for smaller players to develop and deploy advanced AI models, decentralized opportunities itself.
AI is set to shape every society and sector it holds. But in the end, anyone who controls the foundation will determine which values are the outcome. We can let foreign powers combine that foundation, which emits our capabilities to develop and handle centralization, monitoring, and control. Or we can use the edge of America and develop our infrastructure at the speed of energy demands to ensure stability, transparency and freedom.
If the US wants to lead AI, we must act specifically. We cannot rely on legacy systems or fatigue bureaucracy. We do not need much study or more panels. If we want to define the future in our terms, we need to build, and we need to build it now.
Let’s work.
