Trump Calls AI 'Bigger Than Oil' In the Race Against China For Tech, Crypto Dominance

In an interview with Punchbowl News, President Trump said expanding data center infrastructure is critical to supporting AI growth.

• President Donald Trump called AI "bigger than the internet" and said the technology is still in its early stages.
• Trump said abundant energy will determine which country leads the AI race.
• He added that crypto is strategically important because the U.S. cannot allow China to dominate the sector.

President Donald Trump reportedly said on Friday that artificial intelligence is "bigger than anybody ever thought possible," stating the technology could ultimately dwarf oil as a source of economic value. 

The comments, made during an interview with Punchbowl News, come as technology companies continue pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into AI infrastructure, data centers, and advanced chips.

U.S. equities edged higher in pre-market trade on Friday. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) gained 0.18%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA) moved 0.04% higher, and the Nasdaq-100 tracking Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.48%. Retail sentiment around QQQ on Stocktwits remained in ‘neutral’ territory over the past day.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued to trade range-bound. Bitcoin (BTC) edged 0.3% higher in the last 24 hours, holding above $64,000.

Trump Says AI Could Surpass Oil

Trump stated that AI is going to be bigger than anybody ever thought possible. “The way you look at AI, whoever wins AI just wins. It's that big. It's bigger than the internet by many times," he said. 

The U.S. President added that Texas being against data centers was a “mistake,” echoing similar comments he's previously made about New York's approach to data center development. 

"Data centers could be bigger than oil.”

– Donald Trump, U.S. President

The Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ) edged 0.5% higher in pre-market trade, with retail sentiment on Stocktwits trending in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day.

Trump Warns US Can't Lose AI Race To China

Trump repeatedly tied his AI and crypto comments back to competition with Beijing. "We can't let China beat us at this," he said. On crypto specifically, he said, "I believe crypto is very important because if we don't have it, China's going to have another. You know, they all want it.”

He extended the same logic to America's current position in AI. "So, we are leading with AI on China. Nobody thought that was possible. The reason was energy. China can create unbelievable amounts of energy, and they use coal, and they use oil, and gas, and they make a lot of windmills, but they don't use too many windmills because they're smart. Because wind is a disaster."

The comments come at a time when technology companies, including Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Meta Platforms (META), continue investing tens of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure and data center expansion to meet growing demand for generative AI services.

The race has also fueled investment across the semiconductor and power sectors, with AI-related spending becoming one of Wall Street's dominant investment themes over the past two years.

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