{"id":11527,"date":"2026-11-09T21:27:26","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T13:27:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/?p=11527"},"modified":"2026-11-09T21:27:26","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T13:27:26","slug":"vitalik-buterin-backs-the-fight-against-giant-ai-data-centers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/2026\/11\/vitalik-buterin-backs-the-fight-against-giant-ai-data-centers\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitalik Buterin Backs the Fight Against Giant AI Data Centers"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time : <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Buterin\u2019s intervention lands at a moment when the politics of AI infrastructure have suddenly become harder to ignore. In a post on X on Sunday, Nov. 8, he said he disagreed with the strong emotional reaction against anti-data-center movements, according to crypto.news. His argument was not that artificial intelligence should stop, but that the pace of construction may be outrunning what the technology actually requires. He suggested that capabilities expected to require larger data centers two years from now could instead be achieved with today\u2019s facilities in roughly four years, or sooner, as algorithms improve.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11528\" src=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z2-3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"567\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z2-3.png 1000w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z2-3-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z2-3-768x435.png 768w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z2-3-600x340.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Ethereum co-founder framed the issue as a question of risk management rather than opposition to progress. A slower expansion, he wrote, would give the world more time to confront cybersecurity threats that have already emerged and potential biosecurity risks that could follow. He also argued that scientific progress depends on more than computing power, so delaying AI by a year would not delay science by the same amount. Notably, he did not call for shutting down existing facilities or endorse a specific government ban. His position was narrower: that slowing the rush to build could be net beneficial.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11529\" src=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z3-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z3-6.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z3-6-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z3-6-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z3-6-600x314.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The remarks arrived days after U.S. midterm elections turned data center opposition into a visible political force. Candidates who promised moratoriums won governor\u2019s races in Texas, Ohio and Georgia, and Morgan Stanley said the results raised expectations for restrictions on new development. Texas, the world\u2019s second-largest data center market with 6.5 gigawatts under construction, became the central test case. Gina Hinojosa, who won the Texas governor\u2019s race, told CNN that the state should pause new projects until protections are in place.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11530\" src=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z4-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z4-3.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z4-3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z4-3-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/z4-3-600x450.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">That political shift collides with a major pivot in the crypto mining industry. Riot Platforms said on Nov. 4 that it had signed a 15-year lease for 910 megawatts at its Corsicana, Texas site, with about $28 billion in expected revenue. The company sold 20,264 Bitcoin in the first nine months of 2026, largely to fund data center development. For miners, the wager is clear: AI demand will justify enormous new capacity. Buterin\u2019s argument challenges that wager at its foundation, suggesting the industry may be building for a future that better software, not more concrete and power lines, could deliver.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8029\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8029\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8029\" src=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ben-footer-jul2024.jpg\" alt=\"B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Lin \u2013 Brussels, Paris, London, Beijing, Seoul, Bangkok, Tokyo, New York, Taipei, Hong Kong\" width=\"1000\" height=\"379\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ben-footer-jul2024.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ben-footer-jul2024-600x227.jpg 600w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ben-footer-jul2024-300x114.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Ben-footer-jul2024-768x291.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8029\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">B\u00e9n\u00e9dicte Lin \u2013 Brussels, Paris, London, Beijing, Seoul, Bangkok, Tokyo, New York, Taipei, Hong Kong<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>#VitalikButerin #AI #DataCenters #Crypto #Bitcoin #RiotPlatforms #Texas #Ethereum #TechPolicy #ArtificialIntelligence<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time : <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span>Vitalik Buterin has entered the fight over large AI data centers, arguing that a slower buildout would not derail artificial intelligence. As candidates promising moratoriums won key U.S. races, his remarks challenge the industry\u2019s assumption that massive new facilities are essential. Meanwhile, crypto miners are betting billions that AI demand will keep rising.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[374,30,79,752,483,67],"tags":[589,19,219,615,32,512,83,165,4,828],"class_list":["post-11527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-entreprise-strategy","category-famous-people","category-fintech","category-technology","category-wealthytalks","tag-589","tag-benedicte","tag-crypto-currency","tag-data-centers","tag-entreprise-strategy","tag-ethereum","tag-famous-people","tag-finance","tag-gout-design","tag-vitaly-buterin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11532,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11527\/revisions\/11532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goutanddesign.com\/wpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}