A 3,000‑mile road‑trip shows how America’s founder spirit meets the AI age

Lewis Liu spent nine days behind the wheel of a Volvo XC90, covering more than 3,000 miles from Short Hills, New Jersey, to Palo Alto, California. The journey was not a nostalgic trek but a modern quest for what he calls “AI gold”, a term that frames the technology boom as the new frontier.

What the road revealed

Along the way Liu noted a country that looks both familiar and abandoned. A planned lunch stop in Wheeling, West Virginia turned into a boarded‑up diner, while a tiny Kansas town called Casey revived itself with record‑breaking oversized objects, a giant rocking chair, wind chime and pencil, built by the late businessman Jim Bolin. The quirky attractions drew passing motorists and gave the struggling community a lifeline.

“A town is dying. One person has a ridiculous idea. Instead of waiting for someone else to save it, he builds the world’s largest wind chime. And somehow, it works.”

Further west, the iconic Gateway Arch in St Louis reminded Liu of a time when America believed it could engineer any challenge. The 630‑foot stainless‑steel curve, completed in 1965 without a single fatality, symbolised the optimism that drove the nation’s westward expansion.

The founder mentality in the age of AI

Arriving in the Sierra Nevada, Liu observed forests scarred by beetle infestations, a symptom of hotter, drier conditions. The stark contrast between thriving ski towns and deteriorating ecosystems underscored how collective action often lags behind personal ambition.

In Nevada’s “Loneliest Road in America”, the absence of services for 80 miles highlighted the sheer scale of the landscape early pioneers crossed on wagons, a week‑long trek compared with an hour’s drive today. Yet the belief in personal agency that propelled those journeys remains a core part of the American identity.

Now, as co‑founder and CEO of Twin‑1 AI, Liu sees AI as the next tool that could either amplify that agency or deepen existing inequities. If deployed responsibly, artificial intelligence could give small‑town entrepreneurs capabilities once reserved for large corporations, and free professionals from routine tasks. Conversely, unchecked, it may accelerate capital‑centric models that erode the very notion of the American Dream.

What lies ahead

The road‑trip ends in Palo Alto, but the questions it raised travel far beyond California. Policymakers, investors and community leaders must decide whether AI will be a democratising force or a catalyst for further concentration of power. The answer will shape not only the tech sector but the broader social contract that underpins the United States.

For the nation to retain its pioneering edge, Liu argues, the founder spirit must be paired with a renewed commitment to collective solutions, from climate resilience to equitable access to education and healthcare.