The writer is the author of ‘Chip War’
If artificial intelligence systems transform the global economy, then the data centres that train them are the factories of the future. Governments around the world see AI-capable data centres as a strategic resource — one they are racing to control.
The idea of high-powered computing as strategic is nothing new. During the cold war, the US permitted supercomputer sales to the Soviet Union only if they were used for weather forecasting, not nuclear simulations. These rules were enforced by requirements that the Soviets accept permanent foreign monitors and even hand over supercomputer data for analysis by US intelligence.