It’s time to build America’s cyber-nuke. We desperately need a deterrent to stop wars before they start

American nuclear weapons, specifically the atomic bomb, brought World War II to a close. They then averted a hot war with the Soviet Union and bolstered decades of global stability. The decisive superweapons of the next great conflict will be digital and run on supercomputers (specifically specialized chips called “GPUs”), with the power to break codes, paralyze our enemies’ economies, and destroy their weapons from the inside. Just as America’s military needs the world’s best planes and ships, America’s military needs a state-of-the-art supercomputer to deter future conflicts before they begin. Our adversaries must understand that attacking the United States or our allies in Taiwan will place them in the crosshairs of the world’s most formidable cyberweapon and not prevent us from producing one. 

A strategic supercomputer saves lives and ends wars by powering futuristic technologies at scales and speeds never before possible. This means our military leaders can simulate battles before they happen to identify weaknesses and opportunities. Our frontline troops will enjoy a crushing informational advantage owed to systems sifting through data from thousands of satellites, drones, and sensors around the globe. Pro-Trump, Pro-America companies like Anduril and Palantir have already achieved multi-billion dollar valuations building AI-powered systems and software ranging from autonomous fighter aircraft to kamikaze drone swarms. 

Why is this kind of supercomputer such a powerful deterrent? A country with this capability can outbuild, outthink, outmaneuver, and outlast its opponents in proportion to available computing power. AI both accelerates the development of new technologies and makes existing technologies run faster and better. A strategic supercomputer can build and run innovative AI cyberweapons while protecting American leadership in both industry and warfighting. 

DONALD TRUMP SWORN IN AS 47TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

In the interest of forthrightness, I should note that I am a serial founder whose mission to advance America’s technological dominance has led me to build Hydra Host, the Foundation of American Innovation, and Fabius Labs. Hydra Host provides data centers and AI innovators the GPUs and software they need to maintain American primacy. While I then have a personal interest in America scaling its AI and GPU dominance, I offer the following recommendation on behalf of my country’s global leadership and national security.

Why is this kind of supercomputer such a powerful deterrent? A country with this capability can outbuild, outthink, outmaneuver and outlast its opponents.

America is not the only country to have this idea. America’s allies in Europe have all begun building their own government supercomputer and AI programs. Most concerningly, China has targeted massive 50%+ year-over-year increases in computing power to catch up with the United States. China obscures the details of its most advanced supercomputers, and its secretive investments coincide with President Xi Jinping’s repeated threats to invade Taiwan, the West’s preeminent chip manufacturing partner and a stepping stone to the rest of the Pacific. 

Allowing China to catch up would not just be a disaster for Taiwan. It would be a disaster for the United States and the free world our military and nuclear capabilities have stewarded since World War II. American superweapons have prevented global communist tyranny once, and we must prepare for them to do it again. 

America elected President Trump to defend America while saving taxpayers money. We must then discuss why this is not only good defense policy but one of the best investments we can make overall.

Unlike most military hardware, supercomputers can be employed productively in peacetime, supporting critical government, industrial, and scientific functions. We spend billions replenishing our military armament every year, and unlike traditional military armament, GPUs offer immediate and enormous utility for critical civilian applications. 

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We should not be afraid of obsolescence. The advantages of scale endure even as new technologies hit the market, meaning we can do more with a last-gen supercomputer than many last-gen weapons against a peer or near peer on the battlefield. More GPU computing power yields superior results, regardless of hardware generation—and far overshadowing any benefits of having no scale at all. Would we stop improving and replenishing our missiles if missile innovation took off? Free markets generate an unstoppable wave of innovation for us to either catch or spend the next century chasing.

Building and maintaining national supercomputer brings critical manufacturing capabilities and thousands of well-paying jobs home. A national supercomputer can subsidize the construction of domestic chip fabrication facilities through advance market commitments: the promise to buy a product once successfully developed. Such a program should have advance market commitments on domestically manufactured chips which meet the needs of America’s military objectives. 

The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that it is better to buy chips during a supply boom than at gouged prices when something breaks. If conflict arises in the Pacific, the global semiconductor supply chain will likely collapse, and we will need to buy the chips either way. 

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The U.S. defense budget is around $800 billion, and only a small portion is required to build a dominant national security capability and American industrial Leviathan. This critical investment would cost less than 5% of the total military aid given to Ukraine and be roughly equivalent to the cost of 80 F-35 fighter jets, of which we already have about 630 and plan to procure around 1,800 more. 

Investment in a dedicated national defense supercomputer is investment in American reindustrialization and jobs, American security, and American resilience—and one we can’t afford not to make.

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Of course, possessing the world’s greatest supercomputer does not guarantee victory or nuclear-level deterrence on its own. Nuclear weapons and other next-gen platforms extend, but do not replace, our military’s full array of complementary capabilities and doctrine. 

The American military should be the world’s most innovative and agile defense force. Building a strategic supercomputer is both sensible defense policy and crucial industrial policy.

Similarly, AI transforms and extends, but does not replace, the way human decision makers wage war. If we build our supercluster properly and with appropriate urgency, there will be a response, and human strategists will need to manage the arms race they have accelerated. Achieving nuclear-level deterrence requires exploiting similarly powerful software and the data, models, doctrine, diplomatic resources, and military infrastructure. 

Our government must possess the capacity and audacity to move forward on all of the above to build a comprehensive AI defense complex before a global adversary catches up. We must use our lead if we wish to keep it. 

The American military should be the world’s most innovative and agile defense force. Building a strategic supercomputer is both sensible defense policy and crucial industrial policy aligned with existing national semiconductor objectives. 

The new Trump administration, along with the Department of Defense and Congress, must work together to develop and fortify this new pillar of our economy, building our resilience against supply disruptions, bringing critical manufacturing closer to home, solidifying the U.S. as the leading authority in AI and GPUs, and granting the American people a key lever to shape the next era of this foundational technology.