The upside 🦹‍♂️


"The uneasiness they inspire economically is rooted in memories of 2008 but also of the tech industry’s own financial chicanery, specifically the 2022 crypto crash, which was facilitated by a circular-payment scheme of its own: FTX, a crypto exchange, and Alameda Research, a hedge fund, both co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, were found to be propping each other up: Alameda bought FTX’s bespoke cryptocurrency, and FTX lent Alameda money from its customers’ accounts. 

"And so, in some way, the externalities of the data-center boom, be they environmental or economic, are tied up in fears of what happens not when these tech companies fail, but when they succeed.

"Boom and bust can feel like two sides of the same coin: Consider also that if AI companies deliver on their massive investments, it would likely mean producing a technology so capable and revolutionary that it wipes out countless jobs and sends an unprecedented shock wave through the global economy before humans have time to adapt. 

"Perhaps we will be unable to adapt at all. If they fail, there will likely be unprecedented financial turmoil as well."




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