Sharp Tech with Ben Thompson · Friday, August 14, 2026
The discussion touches on how pension funds, designed for long-term liabilities, traditionally invest in infrastructure projects like toll roads due to their predictable, long-term payback. This type of 'patient capital' is contrasted with the rapid funding needs for AI infrastructure.
“And there is money that traditionally goes to large, long-running infrastructure projects because that money itself is a long-term liability.”
“So, sort of the classic example here is the pension fund. And the pension fund is, you know, you're paying into your pension, your employer is paying into your pension over time.”
“Where you're putting a lot of money to work, but the predictability and understanding of the long-term payback is very clear. And it's going to pay back over a very long time. You're going to make a lot of money in the long run, but you have to have patient capital.”