The world is in an “arms race” to build the energy infrastructure needed to power AI, US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has told The National.
“This is the first time in history that you can take a kilowatt of electricity and actually convert it directly into intelligence,” Mr Burgum said ahead of a meeting of global energy executives and ministers in Abu Dhabi this week.
“The arms race is really about which country, which economies can build the electrical power fast enough to be able to fuel what is going to be the biggest productivity and innovation game changer in any of our lifetimes.”
Mr Burgum believes that the race to power AI will drive the “next industrial revolution”.
“With artificial intelligence, both for the digital world and for the physical world, it's going to be transformational,” he said. “It’s going to be a driver of where capital flows and it's going to be a driver of GDP growth in countries. The race is on.”
American and Chinese tech firms are racing to build the best AI technology and infrastructure at the best competitive price.
As America looks to win the AI race, Mr Burgum says the country is “reinforcing its collaboration” with the UAE.
“Both the UAE and the United States are on the same page on this,” he added. “They are interested in deploying capital both here in their country, but also in the United States. So, I think it's a powerful synergistic relationship that can continue to grow and we're excited to be here to keep driving that relationship forward.”
Mr Burgum was speaking ahead of the signing of a deal with the UAE aimed at accelerating collaboration in energy and AI.
“When it comes to AI, there's things you need. You need energy and you need capital and you need visionary leaders,” he added.
“UAE have the highest usage of any country in terms of percentage of their population that's actually using AI today. They're committed to applying it to their energy industries. But they also, they like to get a return on their sovereign wealth fund. And so they're also aggressive investors in this next generation.”
Mr Burgum noted that this collaboration would enable both countries to strengthen their global leadership in energy and technology innovation, while protecting their long-term economic and national security interests for future generations.
“If we don't have the power, we're going to lose the AI arms race,” he said. “We’re way ahead on chips and software but all those things take more and more power. So that's where the battle is on.”
