U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Berrenstein recently stated that the United States must maintain its leading position in the field of artificial intelligence over China. If China manages to overtake the U.S. in this area, the massive investments made by the U.S. in other fields such as defense will become “ meaningless.” At the same time, he also criticized U.S. technology companies for causing local resistance to data center construction, arguing that this is largely due to companies’ long-term neglect of community communication.
According to a report by the American conservative media outlet Breitbart News on September 8, Besent made the above statement at a policy discussion on 'economic conditions' held by that media.
When asked how the United States can expand its artificial intelligence infrastructure and compete with China while addressing local opposition to data centers, Besent first raised the issue to the level of Sino-US technological competition.
He claimed, "China must be defeated. If China wins in this matter, there will be no such thing as ‘the day after’. Consider all of this: $1.5 trillion in defense budgets, the ‘Iron Cloud’. If they surpass us in artificial intelligence, then everything else becomes insignificant."
Bessent believes that the United States still holds an advantage, and this advantage is not due to a single policy initiative, but rather to the long-term accumulation of technology, chips, capital, and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
He cited the American artificial intelligence company Anthropic as an example. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, this company was just a small team of a few technicians. Now its valuation is “potentially the highest ever, and may even reach $2 trillion”. This path of rapid growth from a small startup team to a major player in the capital market demonstrates the competitiveness of America’s tech ecosystem.
However, Besenat also admitted that the rapid expansion of the artificial intelligence industry in the United States has created new contradictions domestically. One of the most prominent of these is the construction of data centers.
With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence, large tech companies are experiencing a sharp increase in demand for computing power, electricity, and land. A large number of data center projects have entered local communities in the United States, thereby triggering disputes over electricity prices, water usage, land occupation, noise levels, and the capacity of the power grid.
Besent has pointed the finger directly at large technology companies.
He said that whether it’s data center operators, large cloud computing companies, or artificial intelligence firms like Anthropic and OpenAI, they all “do a terrible job” when it comes to communicating with local communities.
They essentially have a "go with it, and just deal with the consequences" attitude. I don't blame people for being resistant. said Bernstein.
He even compared it to his own past experience as a professor. He said that if one were to score these companies for their community communication performance, “a D- would be quite easy.” In his opinion, although these companies have ultimately succeeded in advancing some projects, they have already severely damaged their credibility.
Therefore, Besent demanded that companies change their previous approach of 'building the project first', and take the initiative to explain to local residents what data centers actually do and what they can bring to the region. They also needed to prove that the expansion of the artificial intelligence industry would ultimately benefit ordinary Americans.
While criticizing American technology companies, Bensen also threw dirty water on China.
He claimed that the anti-data center protests in some rural areas of the United States were not spontaneous in the community, and there was "a large amount of Chinese instigation and propaganda" involved. Some of the protests were "well-organized."
In fact, data center issues have become a real obstacle to the United States' artificial intelligence strategy in recent years.
On one hand, the U.S. government and tech companies hope to accelerate the construction of large data centers, power facilities, and chip infrastructure in order to avoid being caught up by China in the artificial intelligence race. On the other hand, the implementation of such projects often directly affects local energy, environmental, and public resource allocation, leading to growing opposition.
This means that the competition faced by the United States in the field of artificial intelligence is no longer just a battle between algorithms and chips, but has gradually evolved into a competition over infrastructure related to electricity, land, capital, and social acceptance.
Bessen also attempts to justify this expansion from an economic benefit perspective.
He said that artificial intelligence is lowering the barriers to starting a business. In the past, a small architectural design firm might require more than ten employees to operate. Now, with the help of artificial intelligence, teams of one to three people can also start their own businesses independently.
Biesent also said that the U.S. government has noticed an increase in startups applying for tax IDs and payment accounts. He believes that the use of artificial intelligence by large companies, startups using AI to start businesses, as well as potential breakthroughs in disease treatment and healthcare in the future, are all benefits that the American public will ultimately enjoy.
However, Besent emphasized that even if artificial intelligence brings new economic opportunities, the United States should not slow down its technological development.
He particularly criticized the American proposals to suspend the development of artificial intelligence, stating that it is “impossible for the United States to do so,” because “China will not suspend it, and even North Korea will not.”
Besent also used the “distillation” technique from the field of artificial intelligence to make his point, stating that the so-called ability to learn and replicate from leading models essentially means that followers still need to “stand behind America and watch what America is doing”.
"As long as you're still able to look over the shoulders of Americans, it is temporarily impossible for us to surpass." He said.
Despite showing great confidence during this conversation, Besent also reflected Washington's anxiety regarding the competitive landscape of artificial intelligence.
From export controls and restrictions on advanced chips, to the expansion of data centers, power infrastructure, and artificial intelligence facilities, the United States has increasingly viewed artificial intelligence as a key area that determines future economic and national security advantages. Bessen even placed artificial intelligence above traditional defense investments, stating that if the United States loses its leading position in AI, "everything else becomes unimportant." This further demonstrates that the competition in artificial intelligence is being given increasing strategic security importance by the U.S. policymakers.
