From Prometheus to Hadrian: Silicon Valley's Push to Reindustrialize America

DETROIT—In mid-June, a few days after the SpaceX initial public offering made him billions, tech investor Antonio Gracias returned to his hometown of Detroit to address a room filled with Rust Belt manufacturers. The proprietors were mostly tech transplants who had come to the Midwest to buy up industrial plants and install AI on the factory floor.

“It’s not true that you can’t make things in America,” Gracias said to encouraging cheers. Any claim to the contrary, he added, “is bullshit.” And to those manufacturers barely holding on the last 30 years, Gracias had a message: Tech leaders are ready to partner with them to rebuild the U.S. industrial base. “You are Spartans. You survived the winter. It’s over. Welcome to the sunlight—it’s summertime now.”