BlackRock's CEO: If the construction of AI data centers slows down, it will drive up computing power costs and intensify inflationary pressures.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, CEO Larry Fink warned Wednesday that a slowdown in artificial intelligence (AI) data center construction could further push up computing power costs, exacerbate inflationary pressures, and threaten economic growth. Fink noted that accelerating data center development would increase the market’s supply of computing power, leading to faster reductions in computing costs. He further cautioned that a slowdown in the expansion of related technological infrastructure could harm economic growth prospects. The comments come as global AI investment grapples with multiple challenges: rising financing costs, tight power supplies, and local community opposition. Some data center projects have already been delayed, and investors have become more cautious about large tech companies’ ability to sustain capital expenditure expansion.