According to a report by the US website 'Business Insider' on the 7th, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, stated that China will lead the world in artificial intelligence (AI) computing power, with its key advantage lying in its electricity supply capacity.
On the podcast 'Exploring the Future with Peter Diamandis' on the 6th, Musk said: “China will produce more electricity than any other country, and may also possess more chips... According to current trends, China will far surpass other regions of the world in artificial intelligence computing.”
Musk believes that the decisive factor in the race for AI technology is not just the algorithms or chip performance, but the capability to expand electricity production and supply. According to his estimates, by 2026, China's electricity generation may reach three times that of the United States, enabling it to support the energy-intensive AI data centers. He also stated that power generation capacity is the limiting factor in scaling up AI systems. Musk said: “People underestimate the difficulty of electricity supply.”
According to reports, companies around the world are scrambling to build these data centers, many of which have electricity demands equivalent to a small city. A report released by Goldman Sachs in November 2025 stated that the bottleneck of power shortages may hinder the US's progress in the global AI race.
According to Global Times, when talking about US export controls on semiconductors to China and other restrictive measures, Musk considers that, over time, such restrictions may become less important, and China will “solve the chip issue.” He also said that the diminishing marginal benefits at the forefront of chip performance may make it easier for China to close the gap in AI technology, even if it cannot obtain the most advanced chip designs.