In-Orbit Manufacturing, AI Data Centers, and the New Space Economy with MIT’s Ariel Ekblaw

For years, the United States told itself a reassuring story: China could manufacture and copy, but it couldn't innovate. That story is no longer credible. From DeepSeek's compute-efficient AI model to BYD's dominance of the global EV market, China is producing both volume and quality across sectors that matter. The question is no longer whether China can compete — it's whether the United States is playing its own hand well.

In this episode of TechSurge, host Michael Marks speaks with Vivek Chilukury, Senior Fellow at CNAS, where he focuses on U.S.–China technology competition, AI policy, and digital geopolitics. Vivek's path from counter-terrorism work at the State Department to tech policy in the Senate gives him an unusually grounded perspective on how government actually functions — and where it keeps failing itself.

Vivek and Michael work through the full competitive landscape: the wake-up moments that shifted Washington's focus from manufacturing to technology dominance, why the dual-use nature of advanced technology has pulled the national security community into conversations once left to industry, and what Made in China 2025 actually achieved — and where it fell short.

The conversation goes deep on America's policy toolkit: what the CHIPS Act accomplished and why it wasn't enough, how export controls on advanced semiconductors are working and what they're missing, and why Washington is far too weighted toward restriction at the expense of the "run faster" side of the equation. Vivek is also candid about what DeepSeek really tells us — not just about Chinese innovation, but about the gap between building a model and deploying AI at scale.

They also explore the global dimension: China's "easy button" approach to technology exports, what the U.S. AI exports program is trying to do in response, the rise of "AI sovereignty" movements from Brussels to Delhi, and why the talent and immigration decisions of the past year amount to a serious self-inflicted wound.

The United States still holds the best hand in the world for this competition. The question Vivek keeps returning to is whether we're playing it well — and right now, his honest answer is no.

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For thirty years, the United States largely ignored critical minerals. We mined less, processed less, and stockpiled less — while China quietly built the most dominant mineral supply chain in modern history. When China imposed rare earth export restrictions in 2024, manufacturers from Detroit to Tokyo scrambled. The invisible inputs powering electric vehicles, semiconductors, AI data centers, and defense systems had suddenly become visible — and vulnerable.

In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan speaks with Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, Director of the Critical Mineral Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. A mining economist with over a decade of field experience across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East, Gracelin is one of the sharpest minds working on how the world secures the raw materials that make advanced technology possible.

Gracelin brings a clarifying perspective to a topic that is often framed as a geopolitical contest: the real challenge, she argues, is economic. Until mining in allied countries is genuinely profitable — until the capital, energy infrastructure, processing technology, and policy stability are all in place — supply chain security remains aspirational, regardless of how many executive orders get signed.

Sriram and Gracelin work through the full landscape: what critical minerals actually are and why the term matters, how China built its dominance not just through geology but through industrial strategy and foreign policy, and why the 29-year average timeline from mineral discovery to production creates a fundamental tension with the pace of technology investment. They examine the gap the CHIPS Act left unfilled, the case for aggregating allied demand to change the economics of new mines, and what tech CEOs are dangerously wrong to assume about their own supply chains.

They also dig into the emerging policy architecture: Project Vault as a demand-driven civilian stockpile, the critical minerals ministerial that brought 55 countries to Washington, and the role of recycling and AI-driven exploration in accelerating a supply chain that cannot be built on mining alone.

Ultimately, Gracelin argues that America's greatest advantage is not its geology — it is its capacity to innovate. But innovation without investment, and investment without durable policy, will not be enough. The window is open. The question is whether the commitment holds.

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For years, crypto policy in the United States was defined less by clear rules than by the threat of enforcement. Startups and institutions building in the space operated in a gray zone: no clear guidance, no path to compliance, and always the possibility of a regulatory hammer coming down. In 2025, that began to change.

In this episode of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan speaks with Commissioner Hester Peirce of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — one of Washington's most closely watched voices on digital asset policy. Known informally as "Crypto Mom" for her consistent advocacy that markets work best with clear rules and room to innovate, Commissioner Peirce was designated in 2025 to lead the SEC's first Crypto Task Force, signaling a more structured, collaborative approach to digital asset regulation.

Commissioner Peirce brings a rare perspective: a regulator who believes that ambiguity does not protect investors — it protects incumbents and rewards bad actors. In this conversation, she explains what has actually changed in 2025, what it means for companies building in crypto, and what it will take to make this regulatory progress durable beyond any single administration.

Sriram and Commissioner Peirce work through the full landscape: why "crypto" is not one thing but several, how the SEC thinks about Bitcoin as a commodity, what tokenization of traditional securities actually requires, and where real policy gaps remain. They also examine the role of stablecoins and CBDCs, the tension between investor protection and permissionless innovation, and how vertical integration in crypto markets raises the same questions the financial system has always faced — just with new architecture underneath.

Ultimately, Commissioner Peirce argues that the best regulatory framework is one that lets markets identify where technology is useful, enforces rules fairly and consistently, and makes enough room for people to build real things that solve real problems. Once those products exist and are woven into daily economic life, she argues, they become durable — regardless of who is in office.

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