The Electron’s Interstate: AI Will Cause An Infrastructure Collision

BusinessEnergyThe Electron’s Interstate: AI Will Cause An Infrastructure CollisionByKen Silverstein,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Ken Silverstein analyzes the Energy Transition, AI and GeopoliticsFollow AuthorJun 07, 2026, 09:00am EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang speaks on how AI infrastructure and AI factories that generate intelligence at scale are powering a new industrial revolution, at Washington Convention Center, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.Jensen Huang no longer describes data centers as warehouses for information. NVIDIA’s CEO calls them “AI factories” — industrial systems that convert electricity into intelligence. That language matters because it exposes a truth policymakers spent decades trying to ignore: the digital economy was never truly digital. It is an industrial system disguised as software.And that is why the real contest between nations is no longer about tariffs or semiconductor restrictions. It is about infrastructure.What I call the "Geopolitical Tax" is the hidden surcharge paid by nations that allowed their energy systems, transmission networks, and water infrastructure to stagnate while their digital ambitions accelerated. We are entering an era in which the greatest obstacle to economic expansion may not be a tariff or a sanction, but a transformer that takes four years to manufacture and another two years to connect.To "work their magic," AI systems require hyperscale data centers that consume staggering amounts of electricity and water. The International Energy Agency warned this spring that electricity demand from data centers surged 17% in 2025 alone and could double by 2030, while AI-focused facilities may triple their power consumption during the s...