Pax Silica: Inside the Trump Administration’s Tech Strategy with US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg

We're not gonna do government operated supply chains because that's not how we shine as a country. Our superpower is really our private sector and our companies. The old Steve Jobs quote that American products enchant and delight users around the world by the billions. That is really is our edge as a country. And so the answer's been trying to work in lockstep with our private companies and our builders to build platforms that are commercially viable and that can ultimately live outside of the government as a private service. The Danden Prize, we're joined by Jacob Helbert, the undersecretary of state for economic affairs. We spoke with Jacob before he was confirmed in this role, and we're very excited to have him back to discuss, Pax Silica, which is a multi nation effort to secure the AI supply chain for The United States and its allies. Jacob, thanks so much for being here. Yeah. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. So let's get right into it. Three months ago, you announced Paxilica, super ambitious coalition. Can you explain what it is and where you are in it? Yeah. Absolutely. So I gave a speech at the Husson Institute that was really meant to be our blueprint for Paxilica. Paxilica is an economic security coalition that now has 14 countries, and the idea is really to have an ecosystems based approach to our supply chains and, specifically, the AI supply chain. And in my speech at Hudson, I outlined our different lines of efforts, including our policy road maps and our projects. And, about a week and a half ago, we we basically did the first big, you know, what would be the tech equivalent of a product rollout where we announced our forward deployed industrial base with our oldest ally in Asia, The Philippines. We made this, arrangement with them where they are granting us 4,000 acres, which is obviously very substantial. It's a third of the size of Manhattan to do a very large industrial build out, that's one of a kind that that helps combine the predictability and certainty of the American common law system with the industrial comparative advantages that The Philippines offers. And the goal is really to secure inputs that are vital for our supply chains. And so we're super excited to be here in San Francisco, talk to builders, and see ways that we can actually accelerate supply chain security for our tech companies. Is this set up as a special economic zone in The Philippines, or could you tell us more about the details beyond, sort of the the legal side that you mentioned? Yeah. Absolutely. So, it so right now, the there are two phases to the plan. The first phase is, the state department taking into custody the the zone. We we're we are referring to it as an economic security zone because, it is a very unique type of of arrangement. The state department has authorities …