David Sacks says the United States must protect “permissionless innovation” as artificial intelligence rapidly expands. Speaking at the G20 Innovation Ministerial in North Carolina, Sacks warned against creating an “FDA for AI,” arguing that lengthy approval processes could slow innovation. He also discussed AI infrastructure, data centers, electricity generation, jobs and the economic impact of the technology. For more details, watch our story and subscribe to our channel, DRM News.
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What David Sacks said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
David Sacks, founder of Craft Ventures, discussed AI regulation and data center infrastructure at a G20 tech ministers meeting. He argued that the US is experiencing an AI boom with roughly $800 billion invested in AI infrastructure this year, expected to rise to $1.4 trillion next year, comparable to 1800s railroad expansion. Sacks opposed an 'FDA for AI' approval model, arguing that AI models roll out every two months, unlike drugs or airplanes which take years to approve. He emphasized 'permissionless innovation' as Silicon Valley's key principle, citing Meta and Google as examples of two-trillion-dollar companies founded without pre-approval. On data centers, Sacks claimed they can lower electricity costs if AI companies generate their own power, with excess contributing to the grid. He cited Loudoun County, Virginia residents paying $6,000 less on average in property taxes due to data centers. Sacks noted President Trump's executive order respects states' decisions on data centers.
Key takeaways
$800 billion is being invested in US AI infrastructure this year, expected to reach $1.4 trillion next year.
Sacks opposes an 'FDA for AI' pre-approval model because AI models roll out every two months and would face long approval queues.
Permissionless innovation is the principle behind Silicon Valley's success, citing Meta and Google as two-trillion-dollar companies.
Loudoun County, Virginia residents pay $6,000 less on average in property taxes due to data centers.
Well, we're excited to have you here. I think you and I have worked together for a while now on ensuring that the US can continue to be a home of great innovation, technological discovery. I think the kind of opening question for you, and just to set the stage a little, the core theme that the President is driving for G20 is a return to growth and how all of us as G20 economies can think about growth as a North Star, and particularly for this meeting, how technology can be a driver of that growth. So, I guess the opening question for you is, when you think about the policy conditions that need to be in place to allow innovators to innovate, to invest, to experiment, to bring new technologies to market, how should all of these ministers here be thinking about that? What are the types of regulatory conditions we should have in place in our countries?
Well, I think first of all, we do have an AI boom going on in the United States. I mean, the AI boom is already here and I think this is a very positive thing and something we should be trying to nurture as opposed to hamstring. Just a couple of quick numbers on this is that roughly $800 billion is being invested in the US this year on CapEx related to building out the infrastructure for AI, the compute capacity. That number is expected to be $1.4 trillion next year, and every time I see the numbers, they keep getting revised up. We really haven't seen a build-out of this kind of infrastructure. You have to go all the way back to the railroads in the 1800s to see something of equal scale. It's actually even bigger than the fiber build-out of the internet. It's a new industrial revolution. And I think that if we harness this correctly, it's an opportunity for the US to reindustrialize, to upgrade its power grid, to bring back some manufacturing in these cutting-edge areas, which has been a priority of President Trump. But obviously, I think it's also something that all the other countries of the world can benefit from as well if they lean into it.
7 more exchanges in this transcript
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Sacks, D. (2026, September 1). David Sacks Warns Against ‘FDA for AI’ as G20 Debates the Future of AI Regulation | AI1N [Interview transcript]. DRM News. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1337777/
MLA
David Sacks. "David Sacks Warns Against ‘FDA for AI’ as G20 Debates the Future of AI Regulation | AI1N." DRM News, 1 Sep. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1337777/.
BibTeX
@misc{sacks2026_1337777,
author = {David Sacks},
title = {David Sacks Warns Against ‘FDA for AI’ as G20 Debates the Future of AI Regulation | AI1N},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, DRM News. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {sep},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1337777/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
