Opinion

The AI revolution could become a national security disaster if we aren't careful

The US hosts 75% of global high-performance compute, but moratoriums risk ceding that advantage to China and other rivals

By Alexandra Seymour Fox News

Published September 18, 2026 9:00am EDT

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Newt Gingrich warns US could face grave danger if it falls behind on artificial intelligence

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich discusses the role of artificial intelligence in national security, the GOP's path forward on data centers, and key focuses ahead of the midterms on 'Kudlow.'

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Reindustrialization is alive in America. Yet the recent backlash on artificial intelligence (AI) data centers reveals we have not learned from our offshoring mistakes: creating dependencies that will not be easily reversed.

Whether or not AI data centers are built in America, AI is here to stay. Either we choose to shape the trajectory of AI technology by embracing the AI data center buildout or cede this advantage to other nations that are eager to lead the AI race. China, for example, announced nearly $300 billion in data center investment through 2030, not including private sector spending. India is offering a 20-year tax holiday for foreign cloud operators and the Republic of Korea is offering regulatory relief. Meanwhile, many Americans are calling for moratoriums.

The national security consequences of who hosts AI data centers go beyond competition with China. If we do not build AI data centers in the United States, we risk everything that is inside the data centers: the data, compute and intellectual property (IP) that drive innovation, protect privacy and enable sovereignty. We will also forfeit our ability to set the security standards for this critical infrastructure.

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If AI data centers are the engines of AI innovation, data is the fuel. A significant amount of data is required to make AI useful, all of which must pass through AI data centers. Data, therefore, must be handled carefully — especially for privacy reasons —........

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