Trump Energy secretary: AI race is next Manhattan Project
'The AI race is the second Manhattan project,' Wright said in a Tuesday post on the social platform X.
During the Second World War, 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.
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Trump's U-Turn on Nvidia Spurs Talk of Grand Bargain With China
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New York Post
7 minutes ago
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Douglas Murray: A 50-day deadline is 50 days to kill. Force Putin's hand now
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New York Post
7 minutes ago
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AP 5 President Trump has pressured Powell to resign after he refused to lower interest rates. Aaron Schwartz/POOL via CNP/ Advertisement Prominent Republicans this month said Powell, in office since 2018, could be prosecuted for allegedly lying to a Senate committee about luxury features including private VIP dining rooms and an outdoor terrace. Vought last week raised the prospect that Powell broke a different law if he told the truth to senators by virtue of making major changes without approval from the National Capital Planning Commission — setting up an apparent Catch-22 for the Fed chief. 5 The $2.5 billion construction project on the Fed's headquarters is only of the most costly US building projects ever. Getty Images Powell's reply to Vought seeks to absolve him of both perjury and illicit alterations by arguing he was honest with Congress and that changes were so minor they didn't require approval. Advertisement 'This information supports and further elaborates on my testimony of June 25, 2025, before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs,' Powell wrote. 'The project is large in scope because it involves the renovation of two historic buildings on the National Mall and that were first constructed in the 1930s… Both buildings were in need of significant structural repairs and other updates to make the buildings safe, healthy, and effective places to work.' Powell wrote 'the project is proceeding in accordance with the plan that the NCPC approved in September 2021. Since the plan's approval by the NCPC, the Board has made a small number of design changes to scale back or eliminate certain elements and has added no new elements.' 5 Powell argues he didn't lie to Congress or make illicit changes to approved plans. Getty Images Advertisement 'These changes were intended to simplify construction and reduce the likelihood of further delays and cost increases,' Powell argued. 'Guidance from the NCPC states that agencies should submit revised project information for approved projects only if substantial changes are made in either the design or plan of the project after NCPC review. The Board does not regard any of these changes as warranting further review.' Last month, Powell denied that the renovation amounted to a wasteful vanity project. 'There's no VIP dining room, there's no new marble. There are no special elevators,' Powell testified. 'There are no new water features, there's no beehives, and there's no roof terrace gardens.' Planning documents had called for each of those features. 'There are no VIP dining rooms being constructed as part of the project,' Powell wrote to Vought. 'The Eccles Building has historic multi-use rooms on the 4th Floor that are used as conference rooms and for mealtime meetings. These rooms are being renovated and preserved,' he wrote. 5 White House budget director Russ Vought told reporters Thusday that he and other official are demanding a site inspection. Getty Images Advertisement 'The Eccles and 1951 Constitution Avenue Buildings were originally built with marble in the façades and stonework,' he added. 'The project has salvaged the original exterior marble to be reinstalled and will use new domestic marble sourced from Georgia in places where the original was damaged or where needed to keep with historic preservation guidelines and to address concerns raised by external review agencies.' Powell went on: 'There are no special, private, or VIP elevators being constructed as part of the project. The original elevators of the Eccles Building are being rehabilitated, including an elevator that services historic conference rooms.' 'Although the Board's initial design included new water features for the 1951 Constitution Avenue building, they have been eliminated,' he wrote. 'Fountains that were original to the Eccles building are being restored.' Advertisement Powell also argued that a 'garden terrace' described in documents was actually a 'green roof' that's 'found on other federal government buildings.' The construction project is likely to continue to be a flashpoint as senior White House officials including Vought demand a site visit and critics claim it will rival the Palace of Versailles in inflation-adjusted construction costs. Powell has incurred Trump's wrath for refusing to lower interest rates this year despite inflation falling below 3%. The chairman argues that Trump's looming tariffs require restraint, keeping high the cost of loans for businesses, homebuyers, and consumers with car leases or credit balances. Trump last week stacked the five-member National Capital Planning Commission with three allies — his staff secretary Will Scharf, White House deputy chief of staff James Blair and OMB official Stuart Levenbach — in a further move to increase pressure. A Federal Reserve spokesperson said that they have no information to share on a possible site inspection.
