The Real AI Arms Race Isn’t About Models. It’s About Where the Power Comes From
The AI boom is often framed as a race for bigger models and faster chips, but the real bottleneck is far more basic: power. AI runs on compute, compute runs on electricity, and electricity is constrained by grids, permitting, and infrastructure that move at government speed. As demand for AI data centers explodes, delays in transmission, interconnection, and approvals are shaping where and how AI can scale—sometimes pushing capital to consider extreme alternatives like space-based compute. The takeaway for governments is clear: responsible AI leadership is no longer just about policy.