Tim Scott wants to grill Kevin Warsh about data centers and artificial intelligence. Warsh runs the Fed now. Scott runs the Senate Banking Committee. This marks the first time a Fed chairman will be asked to explain cloud computing to a room full of people who still use Yahoo Mail.
Data centers. The things that already exist. The buildings full of servers that have been processing your Robinhood orders for a decade. Scott needs Warsh's expert opinion on whether these buildings will continue to exist. Warsh will confirm they will. Scott will nod gravely. CNBC will call it "tough oversight."
The artificial intelligence angle is richer. Scott wants the Fed chairman to weigh in on AI. Not the Treasury Secretary. Not the Commerce Secretary. Not anyone who regulates technology. The guy who sets interest rates. Because if there's one thing that determines whether ChatGPT works, it's the federal funds rate. Everyone knows neural networks run on basis points.
Warsh will sit there. He'll say data centers use electricity. He'll say AI requires computing power. He'll mention systemic risk exactly once so the transcript looks serious. Scott will thank him for his leadership. The hearing will last ninety minutes. Zero policy will change.
Retail traders will watch the clip. They'll buy semiconductor stocks because a senator said the word "artificial intelligence" near a microphone. They'll call it "positioning ahead of regulatory clarity." The stocks will be down four percent by Friday. The data centers will keep running. The AI will keep training. The senators will keep asking questions they could've googled.
Scott represents South Carolina. Warsh represents monetary policy. Neither one represents a threat to your puts on NVDA, but that won't stop you from panic-selling them during the hearing anyway.
Photo by Steve A Johnson on Unsplash
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