Former Goldman Sachs CEO Slams 'Current Hysteria' to Block AI Data Centers, Calls it a 'Gift to China'—Patrick Moorhead Warns US Jobs, Tax Revenue Losses

Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said that data center construction could rebuild U.S. industrial capacity, while warning that broad opposition may benefit China.

Blankfein posted on X on Thursday, arguing that decades of declining U.S. industrial capacity have hurt the middle class and, to some extent, national security. He said data center development and American leadership in AI could reverse that trend.

Blankfein called “current hysteria” to block data center projects nationwide "a gift to China."

US industrial capacity has been eroding for decades, and with it the fortunes of our middle class and to an extent, our national security. Data center development and our leadership in AI can reverse that trend, finally. Current hysteria to block all projects everywhere is a gift…

— Lloyd Blankfein (@lloydblankfein) November 5, 2026

AI Builds Could Shift Outside US

Patrick Moorhead, CEO of Moor Insights & Strategy, agreed with Arm Holdings plc (NASDAQ:ARM) CEO Rene Haas‘s comments on CNBC that any U.S. hesitation on data center builds will shift construction abroad due to massive global demand for AI capacity.

Moorhead elaborated that the U.S. lacks sufficient labor and time advantages to build every data center facility domestically. He added that companies largely planned U.S. data center construction to “appease” the administration, anticipating fewer regulatory barriers, with latency concerns also driving some projects.

“Put the barriers up and these will get built outside the US. And all the manufacturing jobs and taxes with it,” Moorhead added.

In a previous post, Moorhead cited a conversation with a tech CEO and said, “If Texas becomes an issue they will get built in Ohio or West Virginia. If not the U.S., then outside the U.S.”

Another tech CEO gets it on datacenter locality. This time $ARM CEO @renehaas237. He nails it.

The US doesn’t have a labor or even time to build advantage and can we built outside the US. Most companies planned to build here to appease the administration, the promise to remove… https://t.co/oxfoZqu7ZY pic.twitter.com/eIRUttcJ07

— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) November 5, 2026

Politics Complicate US Data Center Boom

Blankfein’s warning comes as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced on Wednesday its plans to invest $15 billion in Malaysia over the next two years to expand data centers and other infrastructure, driven by surging demand for AI services.

The data center debate also has political consequences, as technology analyst Dan Ives said a Democratic takeover of Congress could slow the AI infrastructure buildout, estimating that 10% of planned U.S. data centers "will not happen now." 

Citi Research data shows U.S. data center bans and pauses surged from near zero in mid-2025 to more than 500 by October 2026.

Futurum Equities strategist Shay Boloor highlighted the economic realities behind anti-data center campaign promises after Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) President Dina Powell McCormick said that a newly elected governor sought to retain Meta’s investment despite pledging to restrict development. "We don’t want to lose this investment in our town. We don’t want these jobs to go elsewhere," she quoted the governor as saying.

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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