New release 2026

The civilizational challenge of Artificial Intelligence

A deep exploration of how AI is reshaping the destiny of humanity. An analysis that connects the pillars that will define global society over the next quarter century:

  • The availability of critical minerals.
  • The transformation of the energy matrix.
  • Telecommunications networks.
  • The expansion and evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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Carlos Zárate Author
2026 Publication
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Cover: The Civilizational Challenge of AI — Carlos Zárate

This cover captures the shift from the ancient civilizational myth —Atlas the Giant bearing the world on his shoulders— to today’s vision, where Atlas and AI stare in bewilderment at a world they hold up and no longer know what to do with.

Artificial Intelligence Geopolitics Global Control Semiconductors Energy Digital Governance Data Centers Technological Sovereignty Future Civilization Artificial Intelligence Geopolitics Global Control Semiconductors Energy Digital Governance Data Centers Technological Sovereignty Future Civilization
About the book

A full, unflinching look at the real impact of AI

This book is not another celebration of the newest technology. It is a clear-eyed X-ray of the challenges artificial intelligence poses as we try to harness its power in service of a better world — and an exploration of how AI’s evolution will force global society into decisions without historical precedent.

“The dream of AI” is not only a matter of algorithms and software. It is a vast physical structure that depends on enormous amounts of available energy to feed the data infrastructure and the tools that put it to use. And that is only one of the many challenges ahead.

Geopolitics

The demand for rare earth elements (REE), scarce minerals and compounds, together with the growing urgency for clean energy — and the gap between countries that hold reserves, those that refine them, and those that manufacture — is rewriting geopolitics.

Economy

The great rupture: a shift on a planetary scale. The world we knew — driven by population growth and human productivity — has reached its limit. The data in this essay make an unavoidable case: Artificial Intelligence is becoming a new macroeconomic engine of civilization.

Investment

A financial and operational reality that will define the next 25 years: projected investment of between $35 and $40 trillion to sustain energy demand and digital infrastructure.

The evolution of AI

We do not know when an AI might undergo individuation or self-recognition — or when a technological singularity might emerge. That uncertainty is, in itself, one of the greatest civilizational challenges we face.

Governance & Regulation

Regulatory frameworks appear thin — across the technology industry, governments, and society at large. The global community has no shared agreement on where we are headed, or where we want to go with technological development.

Is AI the enemy?

Some claim it is humanity’s greatest threat: ubiquitous, reaching every domain, impossible to contain, destined to destroy us. But today, AI systems are what we make them — they are us, looking back from the mirror.

“No technological advance, once implemented, fails to pull society as a whole into new forms of exchange — information, goods, services, education, and more — which in turn generate their own developmental dynamics and place fresh pressure on technological creativity, feeding the system again. AI is no exception — it is the definitive rule.”

— Carlos Zárate
About the work

What you’ll find — and what you won’t

What you’ll find in this book

Two essential strands run through the work:

  • Research-backed references and information drawn from a wide range of international sources: governments, public agencies, non-governmental organizations, and more.
  • The author’s original interpretations, projections, and speculative foresight, grounded in the data those references provide.

This is a work built on real data and reasoned conjecture, foresight, and futurist speculation. The author uses an informed imagination to explore possible futures.

What you won’t find in this book

No unveiled secrets. No conspiracy mysteries. Just a focused effort to evaluate trends and draw conclusions — even when those conclusions are only temporarily valid.

The work does not claim to predict. It describes possible, plausible scenarios — and invites a critical, necessary debate on technology, society, and sustainability.

Contents

What you’ll find in its pages

01

The semiconductor race with no clear finish line

The tension between the speed of technological progress and its dependence on scarce inputs — versus the drive to control the sources of extraction and production of those critical materials.

02

The energy cost of AI

Every query to a language model consumes energy — already a meaningful share of global electricity use. How far can it scale?

03

Governments under algorithms

From mass surveillance to automated decision-making: AI in public administration.

04

The concentration of power

Are we facing a new global monopoly more powerful than any that came before?

05

Telecommunications networks

The evolution of networks shapes the evolution of AI — and vice versa. The relationship will be symbiotic: “THE AIs” will become “THE NETWORK.”

06

The future of humanity

Can humanity coexist with a superior intelligence? A reflection on the possible scenarios ahead.

30+ Years of experience in technology
33 Startups founded or advised
17 Chapters of deep analysis
1 Book that helps us understand our future
Carlos Zárate
About the author

Carlos Zárate

A leading figure in Latin America’s technology industry, with more than 30 years at the intersection of operations, regulation, and complex business development — and a proven ability to turn strategic frameworks into large-scale industrial realities.

His experience across the technology ecosystem is broad and deep: he has led the launch of corporate startups for major multinationals, developed more than 25 startups spanning private ventures, government projects, and public–private partnerships. As an entrepreneur, he has founded and run 11 startups of his own.

Between 2000 and 2005, he designed and delivered the installation of two software development centers for leading multinational companies in Argentina, each with teams of up to 500 professionals, integrating them into those corporations’ global programs. Through similar efforts across the region, he helped establish Latin America as a source of technological service value.

He has advised national governments and multilateral organizations on technology planning and on the design of technical and legal frameworks for technological convergence. Today he remains a go-to interlocutor for international analysts on the trends shaping Latin America’s digital ecosystem.

Telecommunications Technology Strategy Digital Government Innovation

Understand the future before it catches up with you

Available now in print and digital. The book every leader, professional, and informed citizen needs to read.

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Where to buy

The book is available in print and digital formats. Retailers and purchase channels will be listed here soon.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know

The book is available in print and digital formats through our retailers. You can reach them from the “Buy now” button on this page.

No. The book is written for a broad audience. While it covers technical topics such as semiconductors and data centers, it does so accessibly — with a focus on the social, economic, and political implications anyone can grasp.

It is popular nonfiction with analytical rigor. It combines the author’s more than 30 years in the technology industry with up-to-date research. It is not an academic paper — and it is not superficial. It is a deep read for people who make decisions.

Yes. The book is available in both print (paperback) and digital formats.

Business leaders, public officials, technology professionals, students, and anyone who wants to understand how artificial intelligence is reshaping global power — and what that means for our civilization.

Both. It diagnoses the challenges in depth, and it also offers frameworks for reflection and action for governments, companies, and citizens. It doesn’t stop at the warning — it invites us to build a more conscious future.

Editorial project

People

People connected to the editorial project. The list will be completed from the corresponding document.