American AI dominance is a “question of winning or losing” on a global stage against China, Phillip Buckendorf, CEO and founder of Air Space Intelligence (ASI), said during a discussion at the Breitbart News policy event, “AI is Here: What to Fear, What to Embrace.”
Buckendorf discussed the general sentiment of uneasiness around the development of AI for many Americans, whether that be the addition of data centers or the incorporation of the technology in daily lives.
“As this debate is playing out nationally, walk us through kind of what your relationship is with any data centers, and you know, what your thoughts are on all of this as it’s playing out right now,” host and Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle asked.
Buckendorf said this is “really a question of winning or losing.”
“It’s that serious, right? And so, if you look at the core components for AI, what are the foundational component that go into AI? It’s data. It’s a compute, which is a chip and energy, and it’s the algorithm, and we’ve got to make sure we’re the best across all three,” he emphasized.
“Compute is the fuel for the engines, the horsepower, and so we’ve got to make sure we have the best American chips. We’re going to make sure we have all the energy at the lowest cost possible, and we’ve got to put it together in a data center that provides that compute as we train models and then operate those models,” he said, warning that if America does not lead on this front, the U.S. will become dependent on other nations, or worse, our adversaries.
“They will dictate the terms. It’s that simple. And so, unfortunately, some of these things have become controversial topics, but they shouldn’t be. And I think it’s like from a policy perspective, yes, we can be concerned about all of the the things ten years downstream. Nobody knows what’s going to happen in ten years, but we’ve got to know one thing for sure: We have to win. And right now, we’re leading, but we’re not leading by a lot,” he said, describing it as a “very dynamic race.”
“Those are the core three things that matter, and we better get them right,” Buckendorf said, later adding, “If you stop being serious about these things, if you have your critical infrastructure rot from inside, that’s a disaster.”
He warned, “And we can’t let that happen here. And that is true across the critical industries. But AI is such an important component, and we’ve got to get that right.”
WATCH the full event below: