Trump announces the acceleration of the construction of artificial intelligence power plants to promote the leading position of the American AI industry.

US President Trump announced on Thursday that he will expedite the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) power plants through an emergency declaration to address the competition between the US and China in this field. He said in an online speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, "We will build power plants, and I will get approval authority through an emergency declaration, without waiting for years. I can personally approve it." Trump said these power plants can use any form of fuel and explicitly stated that his government will not set any climate goals for the AI industry. He suggested using coal as emergency backup energy for the power plants. He said, "Some companies in the US store coal next to power plants so they can be used immediately in emergencies." On his first day in office, Trump declared a national energy emergency and directed federal agencies to use all emergency powers to expedite energy infrastructure projects. Just one day later, Trump announced a joint investment plan with OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank to inject billions of dollars into artificial intelligence infrastructure through a project called "Stargate." With the rapid development of AI data centers, the demand for electricity is expected to significantly increase in the coming years. Currently, tech companies building AI data centers are primarily focused on sourcing renewable energy, but interest in nuclear energy is also growing to meet their growing electricity needs. While the tech industry invests in carbon-free energy to meet its climate goals, analysts believe natural gas will play a crucial role in powering AI because of its abundant supply, reliability compared to renewable energy, and faster deployment rate than nuclear energy. Trump also said he wants these power plants to be directly connected to data centers, rather than receiving power through the grid. He explained, "There is no need to connect to an old and potentially vulnerable grid." This arrangement, known as "co-location," faces opposition from some utility companies. These companies are concerned about losing revenue and warn that removing power from the grid could lead to supply shortages.