The United States and the Philippines are moving “very, very quickly” on a planned 4,000-acre AI and supply chain hub in Clark New Town, north of Manila, according to Jacob Helberg, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs. Helberg visited the planned site on Monday with more than a dozen U.S. companies, marking the first high-level inspection of the land intended to become the first “AI-native industrial accelerator center” under the Pax Silica, Washington’s flagship program to secure AI and semiconductor supply chains among allied nations.
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The center, located within the Luzon Economic Corridor, is designed to support emerging industries in artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, advanced manufacturing and critical minerals processing. The Philippines joined Pax Silica in April as the 13th member of the alliance, along with Australia, Finland, India, Israel, Japan, the Netherlands, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
The Clark site is the first physical facility to be developed under the program, and its progress will test whether Pax Silica can move from diplomatic statements to operational infrastructure.
The Base Conversion and Development Authority, which manages the former US military base in Clark, has set aside a 1,618-hectare within Clark New Town for the project. The State Department has designated the site as a “Golden Hub,” a term for AI-native investment accelerator centers intended to serve as anchors for the alliance’s supply chain strategy.
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The location is seen as a convergence point for technology companies, research institutions and government agencies working on AI computing infrastructure, semiconductor packaging and processing of critical minerals, including nickel, cobalt and copper, all of which the Philippines produces in significant quantities.
The project is part of a broader U.S. effort to restructure global technology supply chains away from reliance on China. Beijing controls about 90 percent of rare earth refining capacity and dominates various stages of the semiconductor manufacturing process. Pax Silica’s strategic rationale is to create alternative production hubs in allied countries, reducing the influence that any single nation, particularly China, has over the inputs needed for artificial intelligence and advanced computing.
The Philippines is a logical candidate: semiconductors already account for about 60% of the country's total merchandise exports, although its industry focuses on the lower-value parts of assembly, testing and packaging rather than manufacturing.
Helberg's remarks on Monday focused heavily on the need for "resilience and certainty" for American investors. "Investors who are going to spend billions of dollars to build very expensive capital expenditures need to be assured that those investments will survive administrations in both of our countries," he said, referring to capital spending.
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The comment reflects a practical concern: the Philippines has a six-year presidential term, which can lead to policy changes that could affect long-term investments.
