New Arms Race: Computing Power Equated to Strategic Raw Materials

Global deficits are shaping a new geopolitical reality. On May 23, 2026, the Financial Times published an analytical piece marking the start of a sovereign race for computing power (Compute).

Nations have realized their critical dependence on American hyperscalers and Taiwanese factories. Using the UK as an example, we see how governments are beginning to directly stimulate the creation of sovereign AI ecosystems and the parallel development of quantum computing. Computing power (Compute) has been definitively recognized as a strategic national-level bottleneck, comparable to uranium or oil reserves. This arms race is corroborated by recent moves from the US DOE (shifting to independent AI cluster assemblers) and China's attempts to offset embargoes through its domestic memory market.

Source: Financial Times / Reuters