Build data centres to win AI race: Anthropic

Anthropic Executive Tom Brown has urged G20 countries to clear the way for data centres, warning that shortages of power and construction labour

(North Carolina): Anthropic Executive Tom Brown has urged G20 countries to clear the way for data centres, warning that shortages of power and construction labour have become the biggest constraint on the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI).

In a fireside conversation with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Brown said that AI demand was growing exponentially and creating an industrial expansion larger than the railway boom of the 19th century.

"We have this incredible industrial build out of likes of which we've never seen in the history of humanity more than the railroads of the 1800s," he added.

"And so, that's a place where any country that wants to be involved has a chance to be involved."

Lutnick asked what infrastructure countries needed to participate in the economic benefits expected from AI.

"I think that the biggest thing by far is building more, making it possible to build more data centres, more compute in your countries," Brown said.

"It's very clearly the bottleneck for all of our progress. We're in a huge shortage of the power and labour needed to support the demand for AI."

Brown said data centres could generate employment, government revenue and new investment.

He added that their design could also add electricity to national grids.