Zeus: U.S., China energy bets might decide global economic race

What if green energy, not AI, is the primary factor?

This column is for Callaway Climate Insights subscribers only, but it’s OK to share once in a while. Was it shared with you? Please subscribe.

Image: TheDigitalArtist/Pixabay.

(David Callaway is founder and Editor-in-Chief of Callaway Climate Insights. He is the former president of the World Editors Forum, Editor-in-Chief of USA Today and MarketWatch, and CEO of TheStreet Inc. His first novel, Unregulated Militia, is now available on Amazon and in major bookstores).

SAN FRANCISCO (Callaway Climate Insights) — When it comes to the global race between the U.S. and China for economic leadership in the next generation, the White House is putting all its chips on winning AI.

And by chips, I mean semiconductor chips, which have dominated the second Trump administration’s focus on beating China. From trade barriers to restrictions on U.S. chipmaker exports to downright extortion on Chinese chip revenue from companies such as Nvidia NVDA 0.00%↑ and Advanced Micro Devices AMD 0.00%↑, the White House is making it clear the U.S. must win the chips battle to win AI.

But what if semiconductor chips aren’t the primary foundation of the coming AI revolution? What if instead, the energy used to power them, as well as the data centers that produce the AI, becomes the new paradigm. If that’s the case, it becomes a very different arms race. One in which the U.S. has one arm tied behind its back, in fact.