Speaking virtually to G20 technology ministers on Tuesday, the Meta chief and Tesla and SpaceX founder made the case for accelerating investment in data centres and power generation, arguing that insufficient infrastructure could slow the development of AI and leave the United States at a disadvantage to China.
The remarks came during a G20 technology meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, organised by the White House as part of its push to keep the rapidly developing AI industry largely free from extensive government regulation and scrutiny.
But the push for rapid expansion is facing growing resistance in the United States. Communities across the country have raised concerns about the environmental and economic impact of large AI data centres, particularly the enormous quantities of electricity they consume, the noise generated by their operations and the potential effect on household power bills.
The issue is also becoming increasingly political ahead of the US midterm elections later this year.
Zuckerberg: AI expansion will create jobs
Zuckerberg argued that the construction boom could generate hundreds of thousands — and potentially millions — of jobs in skilled trades as technology companies race to build the infrastructure needed to support increasingly powerful AI systems.
“hundreds of thousands and maybe millions of jobs” in the skilled trades would be required, he said, pointing to the sheer scale of demand for new data centres.
“What we’ve basically found at Meta is that we… can’t find the skilled tradespeople that we need to build the data centers… that we as one company are trying to build,” Zuckerberg said.
His comments underline a growing challenge for the technology industry: even when companies have the capital and demand to build new facilities, shortages of electricians, construction workers and other skilled professionals can slow projects.
Meta is among the companies making enormous investments in AI infrastructure as competition intensifies across the technology sector. The expansion of data centres is considered essential to training and operating increasingly sophisticated AI models, but it also places additional pressure on electricity grids.
Musk warns of an immediate power shortage
Musk focused more directly on the energy challenge, warning that the electricity needed to power AI data centres could become a major constraint as early as next year.
“There will be a significant power shortfall next year, not (the) distant future,” Musk said.
He described the situation as a “crisis of power” and warned that the shortage could give China an advantage in the global AI race.
Musk said his companies were working to build additional power-generation capacity alongside their data-centre expansion, reflecting the increasingly close relationship between AI development and energy infrastructure.
The warning comes as technology companies seek access to enormous amounts of electricity for facilities containing thousands of specialised computer chips. The growth of AI has transformed data centres from relatively specialised technology infrastructure into a central component of the global race for technological leadership.
Political backlash grows
The technology industry's push for more data centres has increasingly collided with public opposition in the United States.
President Donald Trump on Monday criticised opponents of AI data centres, describing them as “backwards and poor.”
Yet polling indicates that a majority of Americans now oppose further construction of the facilities, with concerns centred on higher electricity bills, pressure on local power grids and noise from large-scale operations.
The dispute is likely to intensify as more communities are asked to accommodate new facilities. While technology companies and their supporters highlight investment, jobs and economic growth, critics argue that local residents should not bear the costs of infrastructure built primarily to serve major technology companies.
The debate places policymakers in a difficult position: encouraging AI development could strengthen US competitiveness, but unchecked expansion could increase pressure on already strained electricity systems and generate further public opposition.
Musk predicts huge economic gains
Musk nevertheless painted an optimistic picture of AI's potential economic impact, saying artificial intelligence could expand the global economy by between 20 and 30 per cent.
He estimated that the increase could amount to roughly $20 trillion to $30 trillion in additional economic activity each year.
Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis offered an equally ambitious assessment during another virtual address to the ministers.
Hassabis said achieving human-level artificial intelligence could have an economic and technological impact ten times greater than that of the Industrial Revolution.
“It’s a huge opportunity that we have to grasp… but we’ve got to do that in a responsible way,” Hassabis said.
His comments reflected the broader challenge confronting governments: how to capture the economic benefits of AI while managing the risks and disruptions that could accompany its rapid development.
Musk attacks European regulation
Musk also used his appearance to criticise what he described as excessive regulation of technology in Europe, arguing that strict rules were slowing innovation and weakening European economies.
Technology ministers from France, Italy and Germany were among those attending the meeting in person, along with European Union technology chief Henna Virkkunen.
Musk argued that governments should adopt a more permissive approach to emerging technologies.
“Innovation needs to be ‘relatively free of regulation, meaning that new things must be default legal as opposed to default illegal,’” he said.
“In the EU… things are generally default illegal,” Musk added.
“It doesn’t ultimately stop it, but it slows it down quite considerably,” he said.
His comments highlight one of the central disagreements surrounding AI policy. Technology companies generally favour rules that allow rapid experimentation and deployment, while governments and regulators have sought greater oversight over systems that could affect employment, privacy, security and other areas of society.
G20 meeting sets stage for wider AI debate
The Chapel Hill gathering is part of a broader programme of G20 ministerial meetings being hosted by the United States this year. Washington holds the rotating G20 presidency and is organising a series of meetings ahead of the leaders' summit scheduled for December 14-15 at Trump's Trump National Doral resort in Miami.
The technology meeting was organised by White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The gathering is also bringing together some of the most influential figures in the global AI industry. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman are expected to attend in person on Wednesday for fireside discussions with Lutnick.
Their appearances are expected to add to the debate over how quickly AI infrastructure should be built, how much electricity it should consume and how governments should balance innovation with regulation.
For the technology industry's biggest players, the message from Chapel Hill was clear: AI's next phase will require unprecedented investment in data centres, electricity and skilled labour.
For governments and communities, however, the question is increasingly whether the economic promise of the AI boom will outweigh the costs of powering it.