U.S. Joins Eight Nations in Global Race to Secure AI Materials
The scramble for AI's building blocks just went global.
### The New Supply Chain War
Forget rare earths—the next great resource battle is over the silicon, metals, and minerals that power artificial intelligence. The U.S. is now locking arms with eight other nations, forming a strategic alliance to control the flow of these critical materials. It's a move that cuts traditional trade routes and bypasses geopolitical rivals, aiming to secure the hardware that will define the next decade of tech dominance.
### Chips with Everything
This isn't about diplomacy; it's about raw industrial policy. The alliance focuses on everything from semiconductor-grade silicon to the exotic elements needed for advanced processors. By pooling resources and coordinating investments, the bloc intends to build a supply chain that's resilient, redundant, and—crucially—out of reach for competitors. The goal is simple: own the foundation, control the future.
### The Finance Angle (With a Dash of Cynicism)
For markets, this signals a tectonic shift. Expect a flood of capital into mining, refining, and logistics firms that can feed this new pipeline. It's a classic play: create artificial scarcity through policy, then watch the valuations of the chosen few skyrocket. Another masterclass in turning geopolitical tension into a tidy portfolio return.
The message to the tech world is clear. The race for AI supremacy isn't just fought in data centers or research labs anymore—it's won in mines, shipping lanes, and boardrooms. The hardware is now the hardest part.
Previous efforts failed to challenge China’s dominance
The current initiative builds on work that started under previous administrations to fix problems with mineral supplies. When TRUMP first served as president, the State Department launched the US Energy Resource Governance Initiative, which looked at supply chains for minerals like lithium and cobalt. After that, the Biden team set up a Minerals Security Partnership meant to guide foreign money and Western technical skills toward mining projects in poorer nations.
Even with these earlier programs, Western countries have failed to break China’s grip on rare earth materials. Beijing handles more than 90% of all rare earths and permanent magnets refining around the world, while Malaysia comes in second with only 4%, according to numbers from the International Energy Agency. This Paris-based group monitors global energy markets.
China made its export rules stricter on rare earths at the start of October but decided to hold off on the limits for one year after Trump and President Xi Jinping talked things over.
New strategy focuses on producer nations
Helberg pointed out key ways his plan differs from what the Biden administration did, which brought in more than twelve primary countries. His approach aims at nations that actually produce materials. Also, while the first Trump effort dealt with critical minerals before AI tools like ChatGPT became popular, the new plan covers every technology level needed for AI work, not just one part.
The 36-year-old official used to advise Palantir Chief Executive Officer Alex Karp and helped start the Hill and Valley Forum, where tech company leaders sit down with US lawmakers to talk about national security issues, especially competition with China and new technologies like AI.
Helberg described the partnership efforts as an “America centric” approach instead of just responding to what China does.
“Countries who are participating understand the transformative impact of AI, both for the size of a country’s economy, as well as the strengths of a country’s military,” he said. “They want to be a part of the AI boom.“
Want your project in front of crypto’s top minds? Feature it in our next industry report, where data meets impact.
