David Sacks, the White House’s director of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, has warned that a continued war with Iran could be catastrophic. On the All In podcast, Sacks said that “we have to try to find a way out.”
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He expressed concern that Iran could destroy oil and gas infrastructure across the Middle East, but more worryingly, that it could begin targeting desalination plants, which provide water to much of the region, and could lead to an even greater humanitarian crisis.
Sacks has never made humanitarian efforts a cornerstone of his public image. However, he has a well-documented anti-interventionist stance, and even claimed on stage at the Republican National Convention that America “provoked” Russia to invade Ukraine.
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Despite his service in the Trump administration, Sacks has remained active in the private sector and has a financial interest in leaving, as, according to him, that is “what the markets would like to see.”
The war also poses a particular threat to the artificial intelligence industry, which Sacks oversees in the White House. Iranian drone attacks have forced QatarEnergy to halt production of liquefied natural gas and helium. According to Bloomberg, the company is responsible for a third of the world’s supply of helium, which is critical for making electronics and semiconductors.
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Economist Andreas Steno Larsen told Yahoo!Finance that “This could potentially turn into a bottleneck for the entire history of artificial intelligence.”
