Staff Reports
Nathan Leamer didn’t break any news so much as deliver a warning: if America doesn’t seize the AI moment, China will. Speaking at Breitbart’s “Energy Dominance and AI” policy event, the executive director of Build American AI laid out a clear, simple case — leadership, infrastructure, and sensible rules are what will keep AI jobs and the next wave of innovation on our soil. Or we can shrug and let others write the rules for us.
Why American AI Leadership Matters
Leamer put it bluntly: “American leadership is needed. Otherwise, China is going to lead the way.” That’s not fear-mongering. It’s a plain fact in a world where whoever controls AI standards, data flows, and the physical hardware will shape economies and national security. Build American AI isn’t a think tank hiding in an ivory tower. It’s running a national push — ad buys, grassroots outreach, messaging to lawmakers — to make sure the U.S. wins this race, not loses it.
Two Fronts: Winning Hearts and Building Capacity
Leamer described the fight as a two‑front war. Front one is talking to working Americans — showing how AI creates jobs, raises wages, and builds wealth, not just replaces people. Front two is nuts‑and‑bolts: data centers, energy capacity, and the rules of the road. If you don’t have the power and the servers, you don’t get to host the future. If you don’t write the rules, someone else will — and their priorities might not be ours.
Energy, Permits, and the Real Reason States Are Competing
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Sen. Dave McCormick echoed the obvious: AI needs power. Big data centers pull huge amounts of electricity. That means states and the federal government are now competing for the capital and the permitting that will bring those jobs. Sen. McCormick’s warning to governors — compete or watch the money go elsewhere — is practical politics. Washington’s role should be to clear the road, not lay out a maze of red tape while Beijing takes the express lane.
What Washington Should Actually Do
Here’s the conservative playbook that Leamer, Build American AI, and energy leaders are hinting at: pass a national AI framework so companies aren’t juggling a patchwork of state rules; speed up permitting for power and data center upgrades; offer targeted incentives for building on U.S. soil; and invest in worker training so Americans fill the new jobs. President Trump’s push for “one rulebook” was smart. Different rules in every state will only drive investment to the friendliest regulatory regime — not necessarily the one that’s best for America.
In short, this isn’t just tech policy. It’s economic and national security policy. We can grandstand about risks and slow everything down until innovation drifts overseas, or we can be bold and actually compete. Nathan Leamer and Build American AI are doing the hard work of laying out the plan. The question now is whether Washington will step up, or whether we’ll let the future be written by someone else who’s happy to take both the market and the leverage that comes with it.
