On a Sunday afternoon in September 2026, the most consequential announcement about the future of artificial intelligence in the United States arrived not in a White House briefing room or a congressional hearing, but in a rambling post on Truth Social. President Donald Trump declared that he intended to create an "AI Force" — a new government body modelled, in his own words, on the Space Force he established during his first term — and to appoint an "AI czar" to lead it. No timeline was given. No budget was mentioned.

No candidate for the role was named, beyond the stipulation that "only high I.Q. individuals need apply." The announcement came at a moment when pressure to regulate artificial intelligence had been building across the political spectrum.

Lawmakers on both the left and the right, as well as prominent voices from within the technology industry itself, had been calling for a pause or at least a more cautious approach to AI development. Trump's post moved sharply in the opposite direction, stating that his administration "will not in any way hinder or stifle the growth of this incredible industry," but would instead "cherish it, help it, and watch over it." What that oversight would look like in practice remained entirely unclear. Most striking were the president's claims about data centres, the vast server facilities that physically power AI systems.

He described them as "wealthy and prestigious" and asserted — without offering any supporting evidence — that they raise local salaries, lower community tax burdens, and reduce crime in the neighbourhoods where they are built. Economists and local officials in regions such as rural Virginia and regional Australia, where data centres have generated noise, heat, and water-use disputes alongside jobs, are likely to view those claims with considerable scepticism.