AI boom has dashed US reindustrialization, essay argues
A Huxiu AI commentary argues that Washington's reindustrialization push has quietly faded: after more than a year of tariffs plus localization incentives, manufacturing's share of GDP slipped to roughly 9.4%, factory jobs fell on net and the trade deficit widened. The author calls AI the final straw, noting that combined annual capex at Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta exceeds $700bn, pulling away capital, electrical and infrastructure engineers and electricity, while data centres use long-term power contracts to bid up prices and lift some residential bills. The piece also contends humanoid robots cannot save US manufacturing, since robots themselves depend on precision manufacturing, steel and materials, and abundant power.
It is opinion rather than new reporting, but it frames AI capex as carrying real opportunity costs for industrial policy — a debate worth tracking as data-centre buildouts and power demand grow.