Dwarkesh in the Datacenter
Dwarkesh tours one of Jane Street's datacenters, offering insight into the vast computational resources used in finance. The article highlights the advanced technology and physics involved in datacenter operations, including surprising facts about signal transmission speeds. It underscores the growing intersection of finance, technology, and infrastructure.
- ▪Dwarkesh visited a Jane Street datacenter to explore its technological and economic underpinnings.
- ▪Finance uses immense computing power, leading to speculation that financial AIs might be the first to achieve consciousness.
- ▪Electrical signals in copper wires can travel faster than light in fiber optic cables, a detail that has real-world implications in high-frequency trading.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Dwarkesh in the Datacenter by Alex Tabarrok May 17, 2026 at 7:18 am in Current Affairs Data Source Economics Web/Tech Dwarkesh tours one of Jane Street’s datacenters. It’s extraordinary how much compute goes into finance. (I once predicted that the finance AIs would be the first to become conscious, since they have the most compute.) More generally, however, this is a peak inside the remarkable economics, technology and physics of a datacenter. Did you know the electrical signal in a copper wire can travel faster than light in fiber…and that matters! Amazing.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Marginal Revolution.
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