What's Your Number? Israel's place in the AI race - with Ariel Sobelman
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May 6, 2026 Ariel Sobelman, senior advisor at Israelâs National AI Agency and former semiconductor and security policy expert, explains Israelâs strategic AI role. He discusses infrastructure needs like data centers, chips, and energy. He explores Israel as a trusted tech outpost for allies and regional partnerships. He also tackles geopolitics, digital sovereignty, and the limits challengers face without semiconductor capacity.
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Retailers Buying Land For Data Centers
- Non-tech Israeli firms like Yohananoff are buying land to build data centers amid an AI-driven real estate rush.
- Yael highlights energy, water, regulation, and geopolitical limits that could cap Israel's data center boom.
FPV Drones Break Traditional Air Defense Assumptions
- FPV fiber-optic attack drones bypass RF jamming and threaten civilian defense norms.
- Yonatan warns these fast, accurate drones can enter living rooms without sirens, creating a new defense and economic resilience challenge.
AI Leadership Is An Infrastructure Game
- AI leadership now depends on infrastructure not just apps or startups.
- Ariel Sobelman emphasizes compute, semiconductors, and energy as the foundational trinity that states must control to generate models, not merely use them.