The Greatest Weapon in the AI-War Arsenal
Editor's note: The artificial-intelligence ("AI") revolution isn't just a boon for tech companies... As Joel Litman from our corporate affiliate Altimetry explains, it's exposing the one "weapon" that companies need to survive in the AI war. In today's Weekend Edition, we're taking a break from our usual fare to share this essay from the free Altimetry Daily Authority e-letter. In it, Joel explains how failing in this one key area could mean losing the AI war entirely.
Europe was on fire... the clock was ticking... and a small group of Norwegian commandos had one mission...
Shut down the Nazi power plant – or die trying.
At first glance, Vemork looked like the sort of industrial site you'd expect to find near a river in a mountain valley.
But this chemical-and-power-plant combination was responsible for a crucial ingredient in the German war effort.
You see, Vemork produced something called heavy water... which can cool reactors better than normal water and facilitate nuclear fission more efficiently.
German scientists needed heavy water to create an atomic weapon. If Germany succeeded in creating the weapon first, they'd likely win the war.
If the Allies were going to prevail, they needed to strike where it would hurt the most.
They'd already tried to invade Vemork once before...
British soldiers had taken gliders right to the front entrance. They rode in on bikes, armed with heavy weapons... aiming to punch straight through and destroy the facility.
But while the entrance was the most obvious path in, it also offered the clearest point of resistance. The Germans stopped them with ease. The heavy water kept flowing.
This time, the Allies were determined to succeed at any cost. Norwegian soldiers armed themselves with skis, bombs, and suicide pills. Instead of charging the front door, they treated the surrounding wilderness like the real access point...
Ten of their strongest skiers parachuted into the mountains and forests around the target area. There, they met up with a Norwegian spy and climbed the cliffs to Vemork completely undetected.
Once inside, the team used a map provided by resistance workers. They found the part of the plant responsible for heavy water... took two civilian workers hostage... and stuffed the plant full of timed explosives.
The guards stayed at their posts. None of the 30 German soldiers on the premises realized anything was wrong until the team was already 20 meters out the door.
That's when the plant exploded.
Without Vemork, Germany fell months behind on its atomic research...
That delay gave the U.S. enough time to pull ahead with the Manhattan Project – turning the tide of the war.
"Operation Gunnerside," as it came to be known, was one of Germany's most devastating losses in World War II. And it offers a lesson that's just as applicable today...
How to Stay Ahead in the AI Revolution
The AI revolution puts us in the middle of an entirely different power war these days.
AI requires more energy than we're capable of producing. And utilities and municipalities are facing a giant to-do list...
The real constraint often shows up before the first shovel hits the ground... in the engineering, permitting, and design stages.
It takes years to complete the planning and physical infrastructure needed to get a new power plant on line.
AI data centers and advanced factories (those that make semiconductors and batteries for the AI build-out) are all lining up for the same energy. And power companies are scrambling to expand the grid.
But this isn't just about access and profits for AI companies... In today's power war, the energy bottleneck is a matter of national security.
Countries that can't power their AI infrastructure will fall behind... in economic output... in defense capability... and in the technologies that define the next decade.
It's an urgent need. And countries can't afford to neglect it.
The winners of the AI war will be the ones that clear the path for energy sources – before the demand for power surges.
Regards,
Joel Litman
Editor's note: The U.S. and China have been fighting for dominance in the AI race. But three powerful catalysts could align in the coming weeks to push the U.S. toward victory... and trigger a $23 trillion stock market boom. On July 2, Joel will team up with a special guest to reveal what's about to happen... along with the details on the little-known stocks that they believe could explode as much as 50-fold in the next year.