This Fox News opinion piece argues that local and state restrictions on new data centres across the United States are undermining the country's competitiveness in artificial intelligence, likening the situation to protesters obstructing wartime factories during the Second World War. The author contends that as America and China compete for dominance in AI, a technology seen as central to future economic and military power, local bans and zoning restrictions on data centre construction risk ceding strategic advantage to Beijing.

The piece draws a historical parallel to industrial mobilisation before and during the Second World War, suggesting that just as obstructing tank and aircraft factories then would have only benefited America's enemies, restricting data centre development now serves China's interests in the AI race. It frames data centres as critical infrastructure akin to defence manufacturing, warning that community-level opposition, often over concerns such as energy use or local impact, could have serious consequences for US economic strength and national security.