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Pax Silica: Inside the Trump Administration’s Tech Strategy with Jacob Helberg

Securing AI dominance requires more than just semiconductors; it demands a complete overhaul of how the West manages everything that goes into them, from rare earth minerals to actuators. Enter: Pax Silica. Sarah Guo and Elad Gil sit down with US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg to discuss the launch and expansion of Pax Silica, a 14-country economic security coalition designed to secure the entire AI supply chain. Jacob talks about the creation of a forward-deployed industrial base in the Philippines, where 4,000 acres will be developed into an “economic security zone.” He also compares and contrasts Pax Silica with China’s Belt and Road initiative, explains how the US plans to reindustrialize through automation and robotics, and explores how the Trump administration envisions making these policies durable across future presidencies. Plus, we hear why Jacob believes America to be a “global underdog.” Sign up for new podcasts every week. Email feedback to show@no-priors.com Follow us on Twitter: @NoPriorsPod | @Saranormous | @EladGil | @jacobhelberg | @UnderSecE Chapters: 00:00 – Cold Open 00:41 – Jacob Helberg Introduction 01:02 – Pax Silica’s Mission 03:51 – Investing in AI Chip Supply Chains 05:43 – Comparing Pax Silica to China’s Belt and Road Initiative 12:38 – Pax Silica’s Value Proposition 14:38 – US vs. Partnered Manufacturing 19:10 – Rare Earth Mineral Pricing 22:16 – Role of Venture Capital in Pax Silica 24:50 – Near vs. Long-Term Priorities 27:09 – Making AI Policy Durable 28:09 – How Policies Impact Entrepreneurs 31:00 – Trump’s Entrepreneurial Administration 33:00 – Why America is a Global Underdog 38:00 – Conclusion

Jacob Helbergguest
May 14, 202638mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Pax Silica aims to secure AI supply chains through alliances

  1. Pax Silica is positioned as an ecosystems-based coalition to reduce concentrated AI supply-chain dependence (especially on China) across thousands of non-chip inputs like magnets, actuators, motors, and precision components.
  2. The first flagship implementation is a 4,000-acre US-controlled “economic security zone” in the Philippines, structured in two phases: near-term State Department custodianship as diplomatic property and a two-year negotiation toward multi-decade investor protections and tax regimes.
  3. Helberg contrasts Pax Silica with China’s Belt and Road by emphasizing commercial viability, joint-venture alignment, and private-sector execution over centrally planned, debt-financed, state-owned construction projects.
  4. Critical minerals are framed as a processing/refining and pricing problem more than a geological scarcity problem, with the administration pursuing MOUs, capital allocation, and demand-side pricing mechanisms to make non-China supply competitive.
  5. Venture capital and founders are cast as key partners for execution-risk assessment and innovation (e.g., rare-earth-free alternatives), while policy goals include expanded market access, supply-chain partnerships, and clearer IP protections amid debates like model distillation.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Pax Silica’s core bet is private-sector-led supply chain security.

Helberg argues the US advantage is building commercially viable platforms that can operate outside government, rather than replicating China-style state-operated supply chains.

The Philippines site is a prototype for replicable allied industrial hubs.

The 4,000-acre arrangement is intended as a first-of-its-kind “forward-deployed industrial base” that could be copied in other geographies with complementary strengths.

AI supply chain risk is “thousands of inputs,” not just semiconductors.

He highlights components relevant to robotics and data centers—magnets, motors, reducers, actuators—where concentration risk is high and China often dominates.

Pax Silica is pitched as positive-sum, unlike Belt and Road’s leverage dynamics.

Helberg claims Belt and Road suffers from central-planning waste, overcharging, “roads to nowhere,” and debt-to-equity leverage, while Pax Silica aims for shared upside, shared risk, and host-country benefits.

Rare earths aren’t the main scarcity; refining capacity and energy economics are.

He notes extraction economics depend on energy and ore grades, but the real bottleneck is limited non-China processing/refining infrastructure and China’s heavy subsidies.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

We're not gonna do government-operated supply chains because that's not how we shine as a country. Our superpower is really our private sector and our companies.

— Jacob Helberg

PAX Silica is an economic security coalition that now has 14 countries, and the idea is really to have an ecosystems-based approach to our supply chains and specifically the AI supply chain.

— Jacob Helberg

The AI supply chain actually includes thousands of inputs like, uh, precision reducers and server motors and rare earth magnets and actuators. And our concentration risk as a country is incredibly high for basically all of those inputs.

— Jacob Helberg

China will say, you know, "We'll build a road," and, you know, as a loan, except the company building the road is Chinese, and so China can basically decide, you know, what the price is.

— Jacob Helberg

The biggest surprise is honestly how entrepreneurial, um, it's, the, the Trump Administration has been... we like to move in Trump time, um, because, you know, the president, when he likes something, he wants it yesterday.

— Jacob Helberg

Pax Silica coalition and economic security framingPhilippines forward-deployed industrial base (4,000 acres)Economic security zone legal structure (diplomatic custody, investor protections)AI supply chain beyond chips (robotics components, rare earth magnets)Contrast with China’s Belt and Road and “debt trap” critiqueCritical minerals processing/refining and pricing strategyRole of venture capital, innovation, and IP policy (distillation)

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