Vitalik Buterin Wants AI to Slow Down, Backs Anti-Data Center Movement
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has defended the anti-data center movement. He argues that slower compute growth would buy time to harden the world against AI-driven cyber and bio risks.
The timing matters for markets. AI chip stocks and Bitcoin miners that now rent power to AI labs depend on a fast data center buildout.
Why Buterin Isn’t Worried About the Anti-Data Center Movement
Buterin said in an X post on Nov. 8 that he disagrees with the strong emotional reaction to anti-data center groups.
His case rests on algorithmic progress. By his estimate, whatever bigger data centers could do in two years, today’s will manage in four, or sooner.
Even extreme success for the anti-data center movement would therefore cause nothing close to a disaster, the Ethereum co-founder argued.
I know this is a predictable opinion from me but I don't agree with the strong emotional reaction against the anti-data-center movements that I've seen this week.
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) November 8, 2026
As I see it, algorithmic progress means that whatever you would be able to do with more and bigger data centers in 2…
Cybersecurity problems are already visible, he noted, and bio risks may follow soon. The world needs every bit of time to prepare.
He added that science faces many bottlenecks besides AI. As a result, delaying AI by one year would slow research by far less.
Buterin stressed that his view needs no doomer claims about recursive self-improvement (RSI), where AI systems upgrade themselves.