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Friedberg’s Datacenter Wake-Up Call: If We Don't Build Them Here, Other Countries Will

March 02, 2026 / 01:48

This episode discusses the economic impact of data centers, the speed of data transmission, and the importance of policy decisions regarding their placement. Key topics include the role of data centers in the economy, their minimal physical footprint, and the potential loss of jobs and economic value if restrictions are placed on their development.

The conversation highlights the necessity for policymakers to recognize the significance of data centers as a modern economic driver, comparing their value to that of oil. The guest emphasizes that if data centers are not established locally, other countries will benefit from the economic opportunities they provide.

Additionally, the episode touches on the environmental aspect of data centers, noting that if they generate their own electricity, they can alleviate pressure on the grid, ultimately reducing electricity costs for other users.

The discussion serves as a call to action for policymakers to embrace the data center industry to avoid losing economic advantages to other jurisdictions.

TLDR

Data centers are crucial for economic growth; restrictions could lead to job losses and economic decline.

Episode

1:48

00:00:00

The data coming in and out of data centers moves at roughly the speed of light. So you could put them anywhere.

00:00:06

And I think that our policy makers need to be very cognizant of that fact. You have and we do connect the internet

00:00:14

using high-speed cable, high-speed fiber optic throughout the world. And so theoretically if we don't embrace and

00:00:22

allow the economic development of the data center industry and it will fundamentally be an industry because it

00:00:29

is almost like the new sort of oil. If we don't put them here, someone else will put them on their shores. Someone

00:00:35

else will put them in their country. Someone else will put them in their jurisdiction. And a lot of the economic

00:00:39

value that arises from the people that will build those facilities, the energy that will be installed to produce power

00:00:47

for those facilities, and then all of the second and third order industries that emerge as a result of those

00:00:54

installations. That value will acrew elsewhere. The demand is there. The economy is moving forward. AI is moving

00:00:59

forward. Data centers do not take up a lot of space. They're very small relative to the economic value that they

00:01:05

produce. If you zoom out on the map of the world, all the data centers in the world fit under the tip of a pin. And so

00:01:12

this is a very small footprint. If we're going to give up hundreds of thousands

00:01:16

of jobs and many billions of dollars of economic value creation, we're being

00:01:20

pretty silly and pretty obtuse in our view of the world. Provided data centers are producing their own electricity,

00:01:27

that means that you're taking electricity consumption off the grid because they otherwise are not being

00:01:32

used on the grid. And that will reduce the cost of electricity for other residential and industrial users. So

00:01:39

it's silly to think that we need to put a moratorium on data centers. As soon as

00:01:42

you do that, the companies that use data centers are not going to slow down. and

00:01:45

they're going to go put him somewhere else and we're going to miss

Episode Highlights

The New Oil: Data Centers
Data centers are compared to oil in terms of economic value and necessity.
“Data centers are almost like the new sort of oil.”
@ 00m 26s
March 02, 2026
Global Competition for Data Centers
If we don't embrace data centers, other countries will reap the benefits.
“If we don’t put them here, someone else will.”
@ 00m 32s
March 02, 2026

Episode Quotes

Data centers are almost like the new sort of oil.
Friedberg’s Datacenter Wake-Up Call: If We Don't Build Them Here, Other Countries Will
If we don’t put them here, someone else will.
Friedberg’s Datacenter Wake-Up Call: If We Don't Build Them Here, Other Countries Will
It’s silly to think we need to put a moratorium on data centers.
Friedberg’s Datacenter Wake-Up Call: If We Don't Build Them Here, Other Countries Will

Key Moments

Economic Value00:26
Global Competition00:32
Electricity Impact01:27