U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent publicly declared that the United States is set to control 80% of global computing power, positioning control over computing power as a core pillar of U.S. economic strategy. This statement, coming from the highest levels of policy, provides strong policy backing for continued U.S. investment in AI infrastructure.
Recently, Bensinger stated on Mike Rowe’s show that the United States currently accounts for approximately 50% to 60% of the world’s compute power and expects this share to rise to 80% soon. He characterized this compute race as a strategic contest the U.S. cannot afford to lose, arguing that if adversaries gain a lead, the strategic leverage they would gain would be “unacceptable.” He also noted that the U.S. is currently about one year ahead of its competitors in AI.
This statement quickly drew market attention. Analysts noted that a policy announcement at the level of the Secretary of the Treasury effectively provides a "national endorsement" for long-term capital spending on U.S. AI infrastructure, directly benefiting the demand outlook for chipmakers like NVIDIA and the capital expenditure cycles of hyperscale cloud providers.
Bessent's core argument: Hash power is national power.
Bessenet explicitly included AI computing power within the strategic framework of national economic strength on the show, listing artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and quantum computing as the three pillars of U.S. economic strength and security.
He defends the social impact of AI technology from the perspective of an economic historian, citing historical precedents such as the automobile and Google Search to emphasize that while technological innovation brings short-term disruption, it ultimately creates more opportunities in the long run. He specifically notes that AI will empower small businesses to compete on equal footing with large enterprises and states that, to date, no net job losses attributable to AI have been observed.
On the policy level, Bensinger noted that the government is actively promoting deep collaboration between federal agencies and the private sector in AI cybersecurity, and is supporting the implementation of relevant executive orders. David Sacks, the White House’s lead on AI affairs, has previously held the same position, publicly advocating that the United States must maintain its leadership in computing power and model capabilities at all costs.
Signals and Risks Investors Should Monitor
For market participants, this statement sends a clear policy signal: the U.S. government will continue to support the development of domestic AI infrastructure, providing long-term policy backing for related capital expenditure cycles.
However, analysts also caution the need for prudence. There is currently no publicly available authoritative statistical standard for "hashrate share"; the 80% figure is a predictive assessment provided by policy officials, not an audited, measured dataset. According to analysis by Podcast Alpha, investors should focus on quantifiable physical metrics such as actual production capacity expansion and power infrastructure development, rather than making decisions based solely on policy-related statements about hashrate share.
Verified data from independent third-party research institutions, along with specific figures from future quarterly semiconductor industry tracking reports and cloud infrastructure reports, will be key to determining whether these policy expectations can be fulfilled.
This article is from the WeChat official account: Wall Street View, author: Zhao Ying