DMG’s Sheldon Bennett on Blockchain, Defense, and AI Sovereignty

The global race to build the infrastructure for artificial intelligence has reached a fever pitch — and few understand the overlap between crypto and compute power better than Sheldon Bennett, CEO and Director of DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSXV: DMGI | OTCQB: DMGGF). Sitting down with InvestorNews.com host Tracy Hughes, Bennett described a company that began with Bitcoin mining and is now positioning itself at the intersection of blockchain, defense, and AI sovereignty.“This is a really interesting announcement for our company,” Bennett said of DMG’s recent move into the U.S. market. The company has signed a letter agreement to purchase a 27,600-square-foot facility on eight acres in Oregon, its first U.S.-based data center — a move that places it directly in the heart of an emerging artificial intelligence corridor. “That location has five, six, maybe seven massive AWS — Amazon Web Services — data centers. They’re huge buildings taking huge amounts of power, backup generation, and water cooling for Amazon… So, this is one of the epicenters of compute for AWS.”For a company that has spent nearly a decade defining its place in blockchain infrastructure, the leap across the border represents more than geographic expansion. It is a strategic recognition that the new currency isn’t just digital — it’s processing power. “Every company that I talk to, which are mainly crypto companies that have moved into AI, have all said they can’t convert enough space — and by space, I mean power — to AI quickly enough for the amount of demand that is out there,” Bennett noted. “Currently in the U.S., the demand is so great you can’t build enough capacity or get enough GPUs fast enough.”In many ways, DMG’s decision mirrors its careful, data-driven ethos. Founded as a vertically integrated blockchain and data-center technology company, DMG has long balanced growth with restraint. “We pride ourselves on being stewards of capital,” Bennett emphasized. “When you buy a share in DMG, I’m a ‘steward of your capital’ — you’ve put your money into our company, and I’m trying to ensure you get the most out of it and a good return. One of our greatest successes is saying no.”The Oregon acquisition marks a milestone in that philosophy: an entry into the U.S. high-performance computing (HPC) market while preserving the company’s Canadian focus. “Our focus in Canada is initially to serve the Canadian government’s goal to build AI data centers that keep the models and data within Canadian sovereign borders,” Bennett said. “In parallel, DMG intends to service the enterprise data center market… but over time to service the larger opportunity in the U.S. In order to be able to capitalize on that larger opportunity, DMG needs to start building now.”Back home, DMG is also shaping Canada’s emerging sovereign AI ecosystem through two parallel initiatives. “Track one is working with the Canadian military,” Bennett explained. “We’ve gone after the Canadian military because we know there’s a large amount of upgrades and expansion they want to do around AI and quantum compute.” The company has proposed pre-fabricated, skid-rated data centers that can be “purchased immediately — they don’t have to wait for them to be built — and deploy wherever they’d like.”“Track two,” he added, “is the enterprise look at AI in Canada… The government is looking at whether universities have access to sovereign AI — AI in which their IP developed on these chips stays in Canada and is safe from other eyes.” The company’s ability to integrate energy partnerships, data-center design, and chip-supply chain access has positioned it as a serious contender in both defense and enterprise markets.