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Kevin O’Leary warns China is winning the AI race because U.S. states are slowing data center production

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As data center projects continue to get shut down across the country, «Shark Tank» star Kevin O’Leary and other investors are warning that the facilities are needed to compete with China in the artificial intelligence race.

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Data centers are at the forefront of the continued development of AI, serving as the hardware for the large amount of electricity and infrastructure needed to improve response time and data storage. But opponents cite utility costs to local residents and environmental concerns in their efforts to block development of new centers.

Kevin O’Leary visits the set of «Outnumbered» at Fox News Channel Studios in New York City on April 18, 2024. (Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

«If everybody talks about data centers, too much heat, too much noise, too much water, all that, that was 20 years ago,» O’Leary told Fox News Digital. «Today’s technology is completely different in terms of the heat profile, in terms the water profile, in terms how big these buildings have to be and where they have to be, because we’ve got air-cooled technology and obviously the chip technology’s advanced.»

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O’Leary said China is focused on improving its power grid, which is needed in order to support the massive electricity demands of running a data center. He noted that data centers can function using varied energy sources.

Protesters holding signs opposing a proposed AI data center project during a public meeting in Utah.

Protesters react as the Box Elder County Commission approves a large AI data center project in Tremonton, Utah, on May 4, 2026. Activists opposed the proposed 40,000-acre development over concerns about water use, energy demand and environmental impact. (Natalie Behring/Getty Images)

«Most of it is coming from burning nat[ural] gas, which is very clean now, with turbines,» he said. «Hopefully nuclear power one day, some solar, some battery, all of it together. I think the key is that they’re beating us because they’re getting more power sooner, and then they’re building these data centers to train their own AI. The country that has the best AI will have the best economy and the best defense, the best military, and win all the wars because it’s going robotically.»

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REPORT: CHINESE PROPAGANDA, SINGHAM NETWORK, FOREIGN DARK MONEY LINKED TO CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DATA CENTERS

President Donald Trump has pushed hard for new data center production. Last July, he signed an executive order titled «Accelerating Federal Permitting of Data Center Infrastructure» which directed agencies to reduce the regulatory burdens that have been slowing data center development.

Earlier this week, Fox News Digital obtained a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche from Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., calling for federal investigators to examine whether foreign actors are attempting to shape U.S. public opinion and policy against data centers and AI development as Washington and Beijing compete for dominance in artificial intelligence.

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Sen. Tom Cotton walking in the U.S. Capitol hallway

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., arrives for a vote in the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025, stating the war with Iran will continue for weeks as the U.S. limits their offensive capabilities. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

«Recent reports show that Communist China is attempting to influence our policy and public opinion on data centers. The reason is obvious: They want to kneecap our processing power to win the AI race,» Cotton told Fox News Digital.

SEN BERNIE SANDERS: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS COMING FOR THE WORKING CLASS. WE MUST FIGHT BACK

Despite the push to put U.S. production ahead of Beijing, some liberals in Congress have been reluctant to get on board with data center development. In March, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., introduced the Intelligence (AI) Data Center Moratorium Act.

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«Congress has a moral obligation to stand with the American people and stop the expansion of these data centers until we have a framework to adequately address the existential harm AI poses to our society,» Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement about the legislation. «We must choose humanity over profit.»

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez holding a press conference at the US Capitol

Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hold a press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 25, 2026, to announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

But some experts tie data center production to economic gains, saying that the jobs created from the facilities benefit communities and local economies.

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«In the first six months Trump was in office, over 90% of all economic growth came from new computer and AI investment, and much of it came from data centers,» Judge Glock, director of research and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, told Fox News Digital. «Without continued growth in data centers, we would have higher unemployment and lower incomes. Data centers also bring big gains to local communities.»

Leading voices in AI also noted China’s ability to construct data centers at a much faster rate than the U.S. Last November, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the communist country’s building capabilities far exceed that of the U.S.

«If you want to build a data center here in the United States, from breaking ground to standing up an AI supercomputer is probably about three years… they can build a hospital in a weekend.»

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President Donald Trump speaking with Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the Saudi Investment Forum

President Donald Trump speaks with Elon Musk and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang during the Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Nov. 19, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP)

O’Leary said the competition with China should alarm Americans, adding that if the U.S. falls too far behind, Beijing could gain the ability to devastate the U.S. economy and national security.

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While production capabilities are in question, widespread data shows that the U.S. currently has a significantly higher number of functional data centers already built compared to the number reported in China.

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According to Statista, the U.S. has more than 4,000 facilities as of April, while China has just over 300 — fewer than the United Kingdom and Germany. Still, O’Leary warned that China could outpace the U.S. over the long term if the U.S. slows development.

infrastructure across america, artificial intelligence, congress, kevin oleary, economy

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Honduras: Suspenden búsqueda del adolescente desaparecido entre Cayos Cochinos y Corozal tras una semana de rastreo

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Joseph Vuelto permanece desaparecido desde el 25 de julio. (FOTO: Infobae)

La comunidad de Corozal, en el litoral atlántico de Honduras, suspendió las labores de búsqueda activa del adolescente Joseph Vuelto, de 16 años, quien permanece desaparecido desde el pasado 25 de julio tras un incidente ocurrido en el mar entre Cayos Cochinos y esa comunidad.

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La decisión fue tomada luego de siete días de intensos operativos en los que participaron pescadores, voluntarios y cuerpos de socorro, quienes recorrieron amplias zonas del Caribe hondureño sin lograr ubicar al menor.

Aunque las labores comunitarias concluyeron, las autoridades informaron que el caso permanecerá registrado mientras familiares y habitantes de Corozal continúan esperando conocer el paradero del adolescente.

Desde la desaparición de Joseph Vuelto, ocurrida el 25 de julio, decenas de pobladores organizaron jornadas de búsqueda para intentar localizar al joven en el sector marítimo comprendido entre Cayos Cochinos y la comunidad de Corozal.

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A los esfuerzos comunitarios se sumaron elementos del Primer Batallón de Infantería de Marina, personal del Cuerpo de Bomberos y otras instituciones de respuesta, que realizaron recorridos por diferentes sectores del litoral atlántico.

Las operaciones incluyeron inspecciones en áreas costeras y mar adentro, con la esperanza de encontrar algún indicio que permitiera ubicar al adolescente.

Según explicó el pescador Lorenzo Solís, una de las principales dificultades que enfrentaron los equipos de búsqueda fueron las fuertes corrientes marinas que predominan en la zona.

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Familiares y vecinos mantienen la esperanza de conocer el paradero del menor. (FOTO: Facebook)
Familiares y vecinos mantienen la esperanza de conocer el paradero del menor. (FOTO: Facebook)

El poblador indicó que el mar representa un escenario complejo para este tipo de operaciones, debido a la amplitud del área y a la posibilidad de que las corrientes hayan desplazado al menor hacia otros sectores del Caribe.

Estas condiciones obligaron a ampliar progresivamente el radio de búsqueda durante los últimos días sin que se obtuvieran resultados positivos.

De acuerdo con la información proporcionada por la comunidad, durante las jornadas de búsqueda las embarcaciones navegaron por amplias zonas comprendidas entre Trujillo, en el departamento de Colón, y Roatán, en Islas de la Bahía.

En la última jornada participaron alrededor de siete embarcaciones, además de personal del Cuerpo de Bomberos y efectivos de la Marina, quienes realizaron un último recorrido antes de concluir oficialmente las labores comunitarias.

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Los participantes señalaron que, pese al esfuerzo desplegado durante toda la semana, las condiciones del mar impidieron obtener pistas sobre el paradero del adolescente.

La comunidad de Corozal suspendió las labores de búsqueda tras siete días. (FOTO: Facebook)
La comunidad de Corozal suspendió las labores de búsqueda tras siete días. (FOTO: Facebook)

La suspensión de las operaciones dejó un ambiente de profunda tristeza entre los habitantes de Corozal, quienes durante siete días se organizaron para colaborar en la búsqueda del joven desaparecido.

Familiares, vecinos y pescadores manifestaron su agradecimiento a todas las personas e instituciones que participaron en los operativos, destacando la solidaridad mostrada por comunidades cercanas durante la emergencia.

Aunque la búsqueda activa fue suspendida, las autoridades mantienen abierto el registro del caso y no descartan recibir información que pueda contribuir a esclarecer lo ocurrido.

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Mientras tanto, la desaparición de Joseph Vuelto continúa generando consternación entre los pobladores del litoral atlántico, quienes esperan que la familia pueda obtener respuestas sobre este caso.

Pescadores y cuerpos de socorro participaron en el operativo marítimo.(FOTO: Facebook)
Pescadores y cuerpos de socorro participaron en el operativo marítimo.(FOTO: Facebook)

La desaparición de Joseph Vuelto también ha puesto de relieve los riesgos que enfrentan las comunidades costeras del Caribe hondureño, donde las fuertes corrientes marinas y las cambiantes condiciones del clima pueden dificultar las labores de rescate y búsqueda.

Las autoridades reiteraron el llamado a extremar las medidas de precaución durante las actividades en el mar y a reportar de inmediato cualquier emergencia para facilitar una respuesta oportuna de los cuerpos de socorro.



Corresponsal:Desde Tegucigalpa, Honduras

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Migrant crisis pushes Italy to restore border checks with Spain, testing Europe’s open-border system

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Italy temporarily restored border controls on travelers arriving from Spain Friday as the mass migrant crossing into Ceuta, Spain, escalated from a Spanish emergency into a wider test of Europe’s passport-free travel system.

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The move followed the entry of approximately 60,000 migrants from Morocco into Ceuta, Spain — a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast. Spain’s Interior Ministry said 48,300 people had since voluntarily returned to Morocco, leaving fewer than 2,000 people in the territory, while the reported death toll among migrants attempting to reach the enclave rose to 57 people.

The crisis is reverberating far beyond Spain because it challenges one of the European Union’s central promises: that member states can maintain open internal borders while jointly protecting the bloc’s external frontier.

Schengen rests on a tradeoff: participating countries remove most controls between one another while jointly securing the zone’s external borders. Italy’s decision to restore checks, alongside calls for tougher restrictions from conservative leaders across Europe, has raised questions about whether migration pressures could lead governments to retreat from free movement and reclaim more national control.

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WHITE HOUSE BLASTS SPANISH GOVERNMENT AS THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS SURGE FROM MOROCCO, EMERGENCY REQUEST DENIED

Migrants from Morocco pour into Spain’s North African enclave Ceuta, July 30, 2026. (Reuters)

President Donald Trump also seized on the images from Spain, warning during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David, Maryland, Friday that a similar crisis could unfold in the United States if Republicans lose power.

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«I saw Spain yesterday, and I watched the catastrophe that took place,» Trump said.

«That same thing is going to happen to us if the Republicans don’t get elected — except worse,» he said, blaming «weak law, bad management» and liberal migration policies.

The breach also ignited a broader conservative backlash across Europe and the United States.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a post on X that Italy would impose targeted checks on non-European Union nationals arriving from Spain by air or sea for one month, while coordinating with France to strengthen controls along the Franco-Italian border.

«This is an extraordinary measure, adopted to safeguard national security and prevent possible repercussions for our nation,» Meloni wrote.

She said the controls would remain in place only as long as necessary and would be designed to limit disruption to summer tourism.

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France was increasing checks along its border with Spain, Reuters reported Friday, while right-wing parties across Europe blamed Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s migration policies for weakening Spain’s ability to secure an external European Union border.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage warned on X that the crisis would eventually affect Britain, while French politician Marine Le Pen called for tighter French border controls.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon criticized Spain for lecturing Israel on security while struggling to control its own border.

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White House officials Steven Cheung and Anna Kelly also connected the images from Ceuta, Spain, to the Biden administration’s border policies and Trump’s longstanding warnings about mass migration.

Nile Gardiner, director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, told Fox News Digital that Ceuta, Spain, could become «a key turning point in the unraveling of the European Union.»

EU ADMITS IT ‘DIDN’T HAVE CONTROL’ ON MIGRATION AS BLOC RUSHES CRACKDOWN AHEAD OF NEW RULES

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Migrants run and cheer as they cross on foot into the North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, after swimming over from the Moroccan side and overwhelming police at the city's breakwater, according to Spain's Guardia Civil, in Ceuta, Spain, July 30, 2026.

Migrants run and cheer as they cross on foot into the North African enclave of Ceuta from Morocco, after swimming over from the Moroccan side and overwhelming police at the city’s breakwater, according to Spain’s Guardia Civil, in Ceuta, Spain, July 30, 2026. (FARO TV via Reuters)

«I think we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the European Union,» he said while acknowledging that his view remains outside the European mainstream. «Once you unravel Schengen — which I think is inevitable — this breaks down the entire European project.»

Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, broadened the criticism of Sánchez.

«We told you Sánchez was a disaster,» Dubowitz wrote on X. «You dismissed the warnings because he vilified Israel, defended Hamas, attacked America, and cozied up to Chávez, Khamenei, and other anti-American dictators. Now that his migration policies are threatening Europe at home, you’ve suddenly woken up.»

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Ceuta is legally part of Spain despite being located on the North African coast, across the Strait of Gibraltar from mainland Spain. The approximately seven-square-mile territory shares a land border with Morocco and is one of two Spanish autonomous cities in Africa, along with Melilla.

Ceuta, Spain, is not a protectorate or colony. Its residents are Spanish citizens, and Madrid considers it an integral part of Spain, although Morocco disputes Spanish sovereignty over both territories.

The surge followed controversy over a Spanish Supreme Court ruling limiting authorities’ ability to summarily return migrants intercepted at sea, as well as a separate Sánchez government program granting legal status to undocumented migrants already living in Spain.

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The court ruled earlier in July that migrants intercepted while swimming or traveling by sea toward Ceuta or Melilla, Spain, could not be immediately returned under a special procedure written for people attempting to cross the territories’ fortified land borders. They must instead be processed through Spain’s ordinary immigration, asylum and removal system. The ruling did not grant them an automatic right to remain.

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A map showing Ceuta, Spain

A map shows Ceuta, a Spanish autonomous city on the North African coast bordering Morocco. (Fox News)

Sánchez blamed trafficking networks for spreading a false impression that migrants who reached Ceuta, Spain, by sea would be allowed to stay.

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Critics also pointed to Spain’s mass regularization program. The government initially estimated that approximately 500,000 undocumented migrants would qualify for renewable residence and work permits if they had lived in Spain for at least five months before the end of 2025 and had no criminal record. Applications ultimately reached approximately 1 million, far exceeding the original estimate.

«When you offer amnesty to over a million illegal migrants in Spain, this acts as a huge incentive for millions more to try to enter Spain illegally,» Gardiner said. «What we’ve seen in Ceuta over the last 24 hours is just the tip of the iceberg.»

Gardiner said the footage appeared to show that roughly 99% of those crossing were «fighting-age males» and warned of a potentially «significant terror risk.»

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«This is what happens when you introduce amnesty policies,» he added. «You literally open the floodgates on a biblical scale.»

The Spanish government argues that the program applies only to migrants who were already in the country before the cutoff and is designed to bring workers into the formal economy rather than encourage new arrivals.

Andrew Fox, senior associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital the crisis may have been deliberately triggered in response to regional geopolitics.

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«This is a crisis likely engineered by Morocco in response to Spain’s recent engagement with Algeria,» Fox said. «On a normal day, Spanish security can man gates and crossings, but they cannot control the Algerian side of the border. The fact that these people cannot simply be returned to Morocco en masse, however, shows that the international asylum and refugee system is fundamentally broken and open to widespread abuse. Without fixing that, there can be no border security in Europe.»

Gardiner warned that the political fallout could threaten Schengen and the wider European project.

Although the pressure on Ceuta, Spain, appeared to ease as thousands returned to Morocco, the breach had already spread beyond Spain — fueling a European fight over borders and entering the American political debate through Trump’s warning about a possible Democratic return to power.

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Morocco denied facilitating the mass crossing. Morocco’s ambassador to Spain, Karima Benyaich, told the Associated Press that the events in Ceuta had unfolded against Rabat’s wishes.

Spanish and Moroccan maritime patrols, supported by Spain's Maritime Rescue service, conduct rescue operations off the southern coast of Ceuta after a sharp increase in migrant arrivals to the Spanish enclave in North Africa. Nearly 2,000 migrants have reached Ceuta over the past two weeks, most by swimming around the Tarajal breakwater separating Spain from Morocco. The arrivals include hundreds of unaccompanied minors, prompting local authorities to warn that child protection facilities have been overwhelmed as rescue and border surveillance operations continue.

Spanish and Moroccan maritime patrols, supported by Spain’s Maritime Rescue service, conduct rescue operations off the southern coast of Ceuta after a sharp increase in migrant arrivals to the Spanish enclave in North Africa.  (Antonio Sempere / JNA Press/Sipa USA)

«We have always prioritized legal, orderly and safe migration for all,» Benyaich said. She did not address what triggered the sudden surge. Moroccan security forces later used water cannons and warning shots to prevent additional crossings, according to The Associated Press. 

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illegal immigrants, spain, border security, immigration

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The biggest threat in America’s race with China isn’t Beijing, tech executive warns

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America’s biggest obstacle in the technology race with China may not be Beijing, but growing resistance to new data centers and the power needed to run them, according to Palantir’s chief technology officer.

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«The proximate issues are definitely going to be power and backlash against data centers,» Shyam Sankar said in an interview with Fox News Digital at Palantir’s American Builder Summit.

Sankar, whose company builds software for the Pentagon, intelligence agencies and major manufacturers, argued the U.S. risks slowing its own technological progress more than falling behind Beijing.

«The only threat to AI generating prosperity for America is suicide, not homicide.»

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The U.S. and China are pouring billions into the race to dominate artificial intelligence, viewing the technology as central to economic growth, military power and geopolitical influence. Winning that race depends on an enormous buildout of data centers, power generation and transmission infrastructure to support increasingly capable systems. 

But those projects have drawn growing resistance from communities worried about electricity demand, water use and whether the benefits will outweigh the costs.

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Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer of Palantir Technologies, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview on the sidelines of the Pennsylvania Defense and Innovation Summit in Carlisle, Pa., on Wednesday, July 15, 2026. (Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Companies have raced to build new data centers to support a wave of new computing infrastructure, fueling a nationwide expansion that also has sparked growing local opposition. The issue has spilled into the 2026 midterm campaigns, with candidates in battleground states such as Pennsylvania running ads focused on the economic and environmental effects of the projects.

Residents have raised concerns about electricity demand, water consumption, noise, traffic and whether utility customers will ultimately bear the cost of expanding the power grid. Some projects have been delayed or canceled, while lawmakers in several states have proposed restrictions or moratoriums on new facilities.

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THE WAR ON DATA CENTERS JEOPARDIZES OUR ECONOMY AND NATIONAL SECURITY

Some developers have responded by pairing new data centers with dedicated power generation rather than relying entirely on the electric grid.

Sankar argues those debates risk slowing the industrial gains the technology can already deliver. He pointed to one submarine-parts manufacturer that cut production planning from two weeks to less than an hour, freeing enough capacity to add a third shift.

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«There is no one on that shift who thinks, ‘Hey, I got my job because of AI,’ but that’s actually what happened,» he said.

Data center protest

Protestors hold up «Stop data centers» signs, on the day of President Donald Trump’s speech at the General Motors Proving Ground, in Milford, Michigan, July 27, 2026. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)

The summit itself appeared designed to counter one of the AI industry’s biggest public relations challenges: fears that technology will replace jobs. Rather than showcasing increasingly capable AI models, Palantir filled the stage with factory workers, healthcare workers and military personnel demonstrating software they had built to solve problems in their own workplaces.

Sankar argued the AI industry has become overly focused on pursuing artificial general intelligence, or AGI, rather than deploying today’s AI systems across the economy.

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Artificial general intelligence, or AGI, refers to a still-theoretical system capable of performing a broad range of intellectual tasks at or beyond human level, rather than excelling mainly at narrower tasks such as writing, coding or image analysis.

He compared the current moment to the early days of electricity, arguing that while technology already exists, businesses have yet to reorganize themselves around it.

«The AI we have is powerful enough that it should have created more prosperity and value,» he said. «The only reason it hasn’t yet is not a failing of the technology, it’s a lack of our national will to push and invest in diffusing the technology through our economy.»

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«We shouldn’t lose the plot in pining away for a machine god,» he added.

The summit brought together a cohort of Palantir’s American Tech Fellowship, where workers from industries including manufacturing, healthcare and defense demonstrated AI applications they had built for use in their jobs.

The demonstrations were intended to illustrate Sankar’s contention: that AI will make workers more productive than ever rather than replace them.

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That runs against much of the public sentiment, where workers across industries have begun to wonder how long until their jobs will be done by a machine.

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«How many people have actually, at the front line, have experienced AI and how it’s changed their job versus how many people are imbibing the fear-mongering from the social media feed, which is partially a Chinese psyop as well.»

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artificial intelligence, military tech, tech, china

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