Executive order closer to proper vision for US, AI and security

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Patrick McSpadden is a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and former intelligence officer with more than 21 years of service, including multiple operational deployments. He writes on defense policy, military technology and national security. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect the official position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. government. President Donald Trump’s new executive order on artificial intelligence is a solid step in the right direction.

The order directs the Pentagon and other federal agencies to move quickly on cybersecurity, evaluating advanced AI systems, and working more closely with industry. The final version is also more practical than the leaked draft. It backs away from heavier government involvement and avoids creating what could have become a de facto licensing system for AI development.

That matters. America needs safeguards for powerful AI systems. It does not need a system that makes it harder for startups and smaller companies to compete while giving the largest technology firms an even bigger advantage.

But the executive order leaves out one issue that may ultimately matter more than any AI model itself: infrastructure.

America is still talking about artificial intelligence like it is mostly a software race. China is treating it like a national power race.

That difference matters more than most people realize.

The future of AI will not simply depend on who builds the smartest tools. It will depend on who can power them, protect them, and keep them running when it matters most.

The data centers powering AI are becoming critical national infrastructure. So are semiconductor factories, electrical grids, cloud networks, and the supply chains that support them. The Pentagon should start treating them that way.

For years, Washington has talked about artificial intelligence through the lens of regulation, ethics debates, and worst-case scenarios. Some regulation is necessary. Americans should expect safeguards for technologies that will increasingly influence national security, commerce and daily life.

But Washington should not confuse regulation with strategy. America’s greatest technological advantages have often come from startups and smaller firms willing to challenge established players. The Pentagon should evaluate advanced AI systems rigorously, but it should avoid creating certification requirements, compliance hurdles, or procurement barriers that effectively hand the future of artificial intelligence to a handful of dominant companies.

Meanwhile, China has spent years investing in chips, power generation, industrial capacity, and the infrastructure needed to support long-term computing growth. Beijing understands something many American policymakers still struggle to grasp: Advanced AI does not exist without the infrastructure behind it.

America talks about the technology. China is building the foundation underneath it.

Huawei’s continued progress on advanced chip design despite years of U.S. technology restrictions should serve as a warning that sanctions alone will not preserve America’s technological advantage.

The Department of Defense cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while this competition accelerates. Strategic computing infrastructure is becoming as important to national power as aircraft carriers, satellite networks, fuel supplies and communications systems.

If America loses reliable access to the energy, supply chains and industrial capacity needed to sustain advanced AI systems, the consequences will stretch far beyond Silicon Valley.

Future targeting systems will depend on it. Logistics networks will depend on it. Missile warning systems will depend on it. The next generation of military decision making will depend on it.

And America’s adversaries know exactly where the weak points are. An adversary may not need to sink an aircraft carrier if it can shut off the power, sever the supply chains, or disrupt the data centers supporting America’s military decision making.

That is why the executive order’s push for rapid action matters.

The Pentagon should use this opportunity to aggressively review the vendors, cloud providers, chip supply chains, and critical infrastructure supporting advanced AI systems. This is not simply about checking cybersecurity boxes. It is about understanding where foreign adversaries could exploit hidden vulnerabilities buried deep inside America’s technology ecosystem.

That includes where semiconductors are produced, where critical minerals come from, who controls key manufacturing nodes, and whether hostile actors could disrupt important parts of the supply chain during a crisis.

The United States learned painful lessons during recent supply chain disruptions. The Pentagon should assume those vulnerabilities become even more dangerous once advanced AI systems are fully integrated into military operations and homeland defense.

For two decades, the Pentagon has spent enormous time and resources protecting airfields, fuel supplies, communications networks, and logistics hubs. The infrastructure powering artificial intelligence deserves the same level of attention.

But underneath all of this sits an even bigger issue. Power. Actual electrical power.

Advanced computing systems consume enormous amounts of energy. Data centers are expanding rapidly across the United States, and many communities are increasingly skeptical about what that growth means for their neighborhoods, water supplies, and already strained electrical grids.

Those concerns deserve attention. But the United States also needs to recognize reality. The country that can generate, protect and sustain large-scale computing capacity will hold a major advantage economically, technologically and militarily in the years ahead.

In a future conflict, adversaries will not simply target troops and military equipment. They will target the infrastructure that powers communications, intelligence processing, logistics, cyber operations and military decision making.

That means the Department of Defense should work closely with utilities, governors, private industry, Department of Homeland Security and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to ensure America’s AI infrastructure can survive cyberattacks, sabotage attempts, grid failures and physical disruption during a crisis.

It also means the United States needs to move faster on grid modernization, domestic semiconductor manufacturing, energy production and infrastructure permitting. America cannot lead in advanced computing while relying on fragile grids, vulnerable supply chains, or infrastructure projects that take a decade to build.

China already understands this. The question is whether Washington does.

The AI race will not be won by news releases, conferences or promises. It will be won by the country that can generate the power, build the infrastructure, secure the supply chains, and keep advanced computing running when the pressure is highest.

The Pentagon spent decades learning how to defend airfields, fuel depots, communications networks and logistics hubs. It is time to bring that same urgency to the infrastructure powering artificial intelligence.

Because this is no longer just a technology issue. It is a national security issue.