Dwarkesh in the Datacenter
The article discusses a tour of Jane Street's datacenter, highlighting the significant computational power utilized in finance. It notes the fascinating aspects of datacenter economics, technology, and physics. Additionally, it mentions the speed of electrical signals in copper wires compared to fiber optics.
- ▪Dwarkesh toured one of Jane Street's datacenters.
- ▪The article emphasizes the vast computational resources required in the finance sector.
- ▪It discusses the intriguing physics of electrical signals in different mediums.
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 peek 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.
