The U.S. will need a "whole new workforce" within the next two years to be competitive in the AI race, Meta President Dina Powell McCormick said Wednesday at Axios' AI+DC Summit.
Why it matters: She says half a million electricians will be necessary to build the vast infrastructure needed in the U.S. alone.
Driving the news: "We talk about it as the workforce of America because if you're competing on behalf of America, these are the real heroes that are building the very infrastructure that will help us win," McCormick told Axios' Mike Allen.
- The recent elevation of McCormick, a prominent banking executive, reflects Meta's focus on new tech and dealmaking.
Catch up quick: McCormick, a former Republican official, was tapped to join Meta full-time as president and vice chairman in January.
- Her global finance connections make her a central piece of Meta's dealmaking in the AI era with key industries, like tech infrastructure and energy, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.
- CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of "Meta Compute" in January, an initiative to build AI infrastructure and oversee its data center fleet.
- He said McCormick would work alongside that project with a particular focus on partnering with governments and sovereigns to support Meta's infrastructure.
Go deeper: Five key takeaways from the AI-energy summit with Trump
