BlackRock CEO Fink Warns Delayed Data Center Buildout Is the Real Inflation Risk

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warned on Wednesday that slowing AI data center construction poses a greater inflation threat than the AI buildout itself, saying insufficient computing capacity is driving up costs and endangering economic growth. "If we don't build data centers faster, it's actually more inflationary, because computing costs are too high," Fink said at a global dialogue event in Berlin. Fink, 73, said growing AI demand has outpaced expectations and that delays in construction could limit access to the technology, adding that a slower pace of expansion "genuinely endangers the economy." He dismissed AI bubble concerns, framing the issue as a supply shortage rather than overheating. Fink said now is a critical moment to mobilize private capital, describing competition for capital as the most intense of his career. He spoke as inflation reaccelerates across major economies, Treasury yields sit near multi-decade highs and markets absorb a nearly $2 trillion fiscal deficit. He warned bond yields are flashing a signal, saying deficits "are starting to cause real problems."