North Carolina’s commerce secretary says the state needs to figure out how to take advantage of the artificial intelligence boom.

Secretary Lee Lilley made the comments at Greater Winston-Salem, Inc.’s annual State of the Economy luncheon at the Benton Convention Center.

He told the audience of business leaders that North Carolina needs to do more than just use AI technology — it needs to find ways to benefit from the industry’s growth.

“How are we actually participating? How are we taking advantage of North Carolina's unique assets to get our piece of this gold rush?" he said. "Because the capital markets are telling us this is an absolute gold rush. You can either own a mine, or you can provide picks and shovels.”

Lilley said so far, the state is going down the "picks and shovels" path. He praised several North Carolina companies that manufacture components needed in data centers.

His comments come as some local governments grapple with how to respond to the industry’s rapid expansion. On Monday, Yadkin and Alamance counties both approved new moratoriums on data center development.