Louisiana produces SEC champions, world class cuisine, and lots of energy. The state’s economy has long been fueled by oil and gas, the state’s largest manufacturing export. There is no shortage of demand for transporting Louisiana’s oil and gas elsewhere, but there is also growing demand for using those resources to meet demands right here at home. The proliferation of artificial intelligence and Bitcoin holds an opportunity for transforming the state’s economy and adding tech hubs to our list of accomplishments.

Behind the glamor of artificial intelligence are data centers, facilities that house the computing systems powering the technology. The boom in artificial intelligence has increased the demand for these centers, and the data center industry is projected to grow 10% every year through 2030. The demand for AI data centers means there is a demand for energy to fuel the powerful computers housed within.

Louisiana, with its capacity for energy production, is poised to be the perfect host for these data centers. The centers themselves would bring jobs and investment from tech companies. Additionally data centers will benefit the natural gas industry by creating increasing demand for our top export, natural gas.

Another opportunity for Louisiana to grow a new industry while using Louisiana’s energy resources is Bitcoin mining centers. Like artificial intelligence, large amounts of energy and computing power are required to process Bitcoin transactions. Louisiana could offer fuel and facilities to the most valuable cryptocurrency in the world and, in turn, boost economic growth.

Now is the time for Louisiana to take advantage of both the demand for our oil and gas and the AI and crypto boom.