Trump Energy secretary: AI race is next Manhattan Project

Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday compared the race to dominate artificial intelligence (AI) to an American atomic bomb program during World War II.

“The AI race is the second Manhattan project,” Wright said in a Tuesday post on the social platform X.

During the World War II, the U.S. government’s Manhattan Project eventually succeeded in the creation of atomic weapons that the American military used against Japan in the latter half of the conflict.

Amid the worldwide race to conquer AI, President Trump has faced increased pressure to withhold emerging U.S. technology from international adversaries while ensuring American chipmakers dominate the global stage.

In May, the president signed several multibillion-dollar AI deals between U.S. companies and Gulf countries during a trip to the Middle East.

On Tuesday, Trump announced $92 billion in new private data center and energy investments as his administration seeks to bolster the U.S.’s power supply in an effort to rapidly develop AI, which consumes a significant amount of energy.

The president unveiled investments from 20 top energy and technology companies, including Google, CoreWeave, and Blackstone, at Sen. Dave McCormick’s (R-Pa.) first Pittsburgh-based Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit.