During a keynote speech at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday, US Vice President JD Vance framed generative AI and cryptocurrency as symbols of a growing ideological divide in the tech industry. Speaking to cryptocurrency advocates and industry players, Vance’s remarks reflected broader tensions between Silicon Valley and the current political establishment.
“One of the ways you hear this stated is that crypto is fundamentally a conservative or right-leaning technology, and artificial intelligence is fundamentally a left-leaning or a communist technology,” Vance said during his keynote speech.
He acknowledged this classification may be an oversimplification of the right and left, and then added there’s truth to it.
“What I’ve noticed is that very smart right-wing people in tech tend to be attracted to Bitcoin and crypto, and very smart left-wing people in tech tend to be attracted to AI,” Vance said.
Vance also urged cryptocurrency enthusiasts to keep an eye on how generative AI affects their respective fields. Generative AI has touched nearly every aspect of tech over the last few years.
“I’d ask you all to remember that what happens in AI is very much going to affect in good and bad ways what happens in Bitcoin,” he said. “Make sure you’re keeping tabs on and staying involved in what’s happening in artificial intelligence.”
President Donald Trump supports crypto industry
Although cryptocurrency is no longer a dominant buzzword as it was during its heyday from 2018 to 2020, it has remained relevant in both the finance and tech sectors.
Trump has been outspokenly pro-crypto, including appointing cryptocurrency backer Paul Atkins as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Like AI, cryptocurrency has contributed to today’s boom in data center development and the associated environmental risks. As such, AI and cryptocurrency companies compete for limited power infrastructure. In other cases, data centers built for cryptocurrency mining have been converted to run AI workloads.
Read eWeek’s coverage about Vance’s comments on regulation during this year’s Paris AI Action summit, as well as how Elon Musk is reprioritizing his businesses, including xAI, after serving as an advisor to the Trump administration.