The CEO of the biggest asset manager company in the world, BlackRock, said on Friday that the company is in discussions with several governments about how to pay for crucial investments that would enable artificial intelligence (AI), such as boosting the power supply, according to Reuters.
Global productivity is expected to increase significantly with artificial intelligence (AI), but this would demand massive amounts of electricity for data centers and semiconductor manufacturing.
Speaking virtually, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink addressed the B7 business groupings of the Group of Seven (G7) states during their conference in Rome.
The summit came ahead of the G7 more developed economies' finance ministers and central bankers gathering in Italy the following week.
Fink said "These AI data centres are going to require more power than anything we could ever have imagined. We at the G7 do not have enough power."
"I think this is going to create a real competitive challenge for countries."
According to Fink, data centers are likely to be constructed in areas with less expensive power supplies, necessitating the need for government subsidies in places where energy costs are not competitive.
The construction of data centers and chip factories that support artificial intelligence (AI) technologies will require investments that BlackRock estimates are "in the trillions of dollars." Private investors must be involved, and Fink noted that this might be a fantastic opportunity for insurers and pension funds.
In response to increased demand from semiconductor manufacturers and data centers supporting artificial intelligence, Japan announced on Tuesday that it expects the requirement for power output to expand by 35% to 50% by 2050.
Fink added, "We're in conversations with many governments right now about how can we bring private capital," but the fear of a "fiscal crisis" prevented the G7 states from bearing the expense.
"The deficits we're seeing in the G7 are becoming a burden for my children, your children, our grandchildren."
