The war for minerals, oil and Artificial Intelligence

President Trump has offered a variety of reasons for his intense, pugilistic ambitions in Venezuela, Greenland, and other hemispheric players. But one tie binds them all: They hold many of the critical minerals essential to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and defense technology—and therefore future global dominance. Both Venezuela and Greenland have some of the key critical minerals needed for advanced electronics and batteries. They have deposits of gallium, germanium, indium, tantalum, and silicon, which are used in advanced AI chips. Greenland has another coveted mineral that Venezuela does not have—palladium. Compared to Greenland, Venezuela has more significant quantities of coltan, a metal used in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles. Venezuela and Greenland also have thorium, a metal that can be converted into fissile uranium-233 and used as a nuclear fuel. And both are rich in clean energy minerals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel that can help power massive AI data centers.