Alexandr Wang, CEO of Scale AI has placed a full-page advertisement in The Washington Post, asking the Trump Administration to invest more in AI.
Wang who Many tech CEOs attended Trump’s inauguration on January 19th. Posted a scanned copy of the ad that reads: “Dear Mr. Trump, America must be victorious in the AI War.”
After spending a weekend in DC, after spending the weekend there, I am confident that this Administration has the AI muscles to keep us ahead China.5 recommendations for the new government pic.twitter.com/m0v3WgA4FR
— Alexandr Wang (@alexandr_wang)””https://twitter.com/alexandr_wang/status/1881679669176746039?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”” rel=””nofollow” “> January 21, 2025 (19659007) In the full letter that was published online, Wang explains the five broad steps the U.S. must take to win the “AI war” he believes China is waging against the U.S.
Scale’s core business, data labeling and process for AI projects in large organizations, was valued last year at $13.8 billion.
Wang is calling on the U.S. Government to spend more money on data and computation in order to follow the example of tech giants. He also suggests that the U.S. should review its own regulations in order to ensure that AI-related jobs will be available in the future.
Wang also calls for federal agencies to be “AI-ready by 2027″launching a “aggressive plan” for cheap electricity which can be consumed by AI centric data centers and offering ideas on how AI safety measures can implemented.
At least some of these suggestions, such as a surge in U.S. Government spending on data, could benefit Scale. Scale already Scale counts the U.S. Government as a client and is reported to be part of plans for an American defense startup consortium.
More favorable regulations and encouraging AI related jobs could also help Scale, as it relies heavily upon contract workers. A few of them have recently filed lawsuits claiming they are misclassified.
Wang has, however, framed the recommendations in an effort to keep America ahead of China when it comes to AI. In his letter, Wang states that “we are in a new type of technological arms race.” “The Chinese Government is investing in AI with an unprecedented pace.”
Chinese model like DeepSeek has been getting attention for its strong performance on certain benchmarks. Wang’s letter states that China has caught up to the U.S., after being at least one year behind. This statement was echoed by many AI leaders.
But Wang has framed the U.S.-China competition in AI as a “war”which has raised concerns from some.
This is a horrible frame – we aren’t at war. We are all in it together, and if we turn AI development into a conflict we will all likely die. Emmett Shear was briefly the CEO of OpenAI in 2023.
It remains to be determined how the Trump administration will respond. President Trump has so far acted primarily on AI by rescinding his predecessor’s AI executive order, which provided guidance to companies on how to correct flaws or biases within their models. Charles Rollet, a senior reporter for TechCrunch, is
Charles Rollet. His investigative reporting led to U.S. sanctions against four tech firms, including China’s biggest AI firm. Charles covered the surveillance sector for IPVM before joining TechCrunch. Charles lives in San Francisco and enjoys hiking with dogs. You can reach Charles on Signal using charlesrollet.12, or by calling +1-628-282-2811.
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