We Already Lost the Power Race to China. Now What?

The global economy is currently defined by an intense race toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which functions as a modern-day space race requiring massive capital investment and unprecedented energy production. While private industry, such as SpaceX, has successfully commercialized low Earth orbit, the current bottleneck for AI development is the lack of power infrastructure to support data centers. Corporations like Levi’s are navigating this shift by adopting AI frameworks that prioritize process and product over workforce reduction, despite broader concerns from leaders like Allstate’s CEO regarding job displacement. Amidst this technological transition, the economy shows resilience, with consumer spending remaining stable and heritage brands successfully pivoting to direct-to-consumer models. Furthermore, Apple’s leadership transition to John Ternus signals a strategic shift in hardware engineering, reflecting a broader trend of organizational adaptation in an era of rapid intellectual and economic competition.