“AI Workloads are Traditional Systems Beyond their Limits. Incentivizing distributed energy and data is the Answer, Says Greg Osuri, CEO of Akash Network.”, – WRITE: www.coindesk.com
Despite this demand, Our infrastructure isn’t keeping pace. In 2024, US DATA CENTERS Used ~ 200 Terawatt-Hours of Electricity, Enough to Power Thailand for a Year. The Same Estimate Holds that by 2028, AI Power USAGE IS PREDICTED TO REACH Between 165 and 326 Terawatt-Hours Annuly, Enough To Power 22% of US Households. Ai workloads are pushing energy and compute systems Well Beyond their Limits, Creating An Exponential Demand that Leaves Our Power Grid Laging Behind As Itntally.
This Mismatch is more than a technical isssue. As demand for ai ramps up, thesee bottlenecks in National Energy Supple and Compute Access Will Slow Development Across Everi Sector, Limiting ITS transformation.
The United States is Leading, for now. But we are in a sprint, and china is gaining gramond. Their DEEPSEEK Model R1 Rivals Top-Tier US Models. DEEPSEEK’s SUCCCESS PROVES THAT SCALE, SCALE AND Efficiency Can Radically Shift The Balance of Global AI Power. China’s AI Push is Well-Funded, Coordinated and Strategic. If Deepeseek is Any Indication of China’s Momentum, We Are Far Behind Them.
IT WON’TTER WHO LEADS IN ALGORITHMS IF The US KEPS TREATING INFRASTRUCTURE as an afterhought, Because We’re on Track To Lose The Platform War. The Future of ai Must Be Built on Freedom, Transparency, and Trust, Not Surveillance and Control. That is America’s Edge – and to that we must prioritize the energy crisis is crying.
In this context, Massive, Centralized Data Centers Are Obsolete. They’re Rigid, Expensive, and Confined to One Geographic Location. Even Worse, they Create Single Points of Failure. If One Power Grid Goes Down or Is Overheated, an Entire Segment of the Country is Plunged Into A Technological Dark Age.
By Contrast, Decentralized Systems Free Our Potential, ALLOWING AMERICAN INNOVATION TO SCALE TO AGCHITY. Smaller Compute Clusters Can Run Near Sources of Localized Renewable Energy, Such As Solar, Wind, Or Geothermal Energy, Or Take Advantage of Underutilized Compute Power Power Communities. Decentralized Systems Also Better Position American Technology to Survive in a World Where Threats Are IncreASINGLY MOVING INTO the Digital Space. In Times of Crisis, or Cyberattacks from nefarious actors, Distributing Compute Across Individual Nodes Ensures Continuity, Whereas Centralized Systems Collaps.
The Way ForwardSO WHAT’S The PATH FORward?
We Start by Incentivizing Distributed Infrastructure, Making IT Easier and More Profitable To Build Beyond Hyperscale Facilites. We Fund Federal Research and Development for Distributed Computing to Accelerate Innovation in the Public and Private Sectors. To host edge computing Powered by local Clean Energy, We Open Up Federal Land and Institutions. And Finally, We Streamline Support for Next-Generation Energy Sources Like Advanced Nuclear Grids, So The Future Grid Can Match the Volume of ai Energy Demand.
Through this Approach, We Reduce Permit Delays and Unleash the Latent Value in Our Nation’s Underused Assets, from Rural Substations to Decommission Industrial Zones. Our Energy Crisis Cannot Be Solved With A Single Fix. But Taken Together, TheSe Steps Serve As A Resilient Model for America to Lead in AI Development.
This Shift Does Much More Than Fix Our Energy Bottleneck – Ith Reshaps Access. Developers Can Build Independently of Big Tech with Begging for Compute. These Infrastructure Policies Wound Level the Field for Smaller Players to Build and Deploy Advanced AI Models, Decentralizing Opportunity Itelf.
Ai is set to Shape every Society and Sector It Touchs. But Ultimately, Whoever Controls the Foundation Will Determine Which Values Guide that Outcome. We Can Let Foreign Powers Consolidate that Foundation, Outstripping Our Capacities to Build and Entrenthing Centralization, Surveillance, and Control. Or we have leverage American’s Edge and Develop Our Infrastructure at the Pace with WHICH ENERGY DEMANDS to GUARANTEE resiliency, Transparency and Freedom.
If the US Wants to Lead in Ai, We Must Act Decisively. We Cannot Rely on Legacy Systems or Lethargic Bureaucracry. We don’t need more Studies or more panels. If we want to define the Future on Our Terms, We Need to Build, and We Need to Build Now.
Let’s get to work.
Note: The Views Expressed in this Column Are Those of the Author and Do Not Necessarily Reflect Those of Coindesk, Inc. i Owners and Affilites.
