Rails, Chips, and Drips: AI’s Infrastructure Moment Arrives

This week on The Impact, Hal and Addie track how AI is moving from talk to tools: the federal USAi testbed goes live, city halls draft with chatbots and tighten guardrails, and South Korean banks roll out always-on fraud AI ahead of no-fault liability. We follow the money to chips—an $8.9B U.S. equity stake in Intel and Korea’s budget push—then hit the physical limits as Mexico’s data-center boom strains scarce water. Globally, U.S. and Chinese AI action plans rhyme on speed, diffusion, and “manage risk later,” while Silicon Valley donors pledge ~$200M and Meta launches a California super PAC to shape state policy. Clear takeaways, practical steps, zero hype.