Overtime – Episode #745: Sen. Thom Tillis, Sara Eisen

Welcome to an HBO podcast from the HBO late-night series Real Time with Bill Maugh. Hi, these are a public attentioners from North Carolina. And I'm off to have had a loose friends and antagonized President, Senator Tom Telez. And she's co-anchored at CMBC's Squawk on the Street Sarah Eisen. Okay, these are from the people for the panel. Does Trump deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? It was handed out today. He did not win. I thought he took it better than I thought he would. He said, "Well, I already got one." Because, remember, the Venezuelan lady gave him her old one? She did. This man. That reminds me of my brother stole a good citizenship award when he was three years old and brought it home to my mother. Sorry, Rick. Yeah, I mean, there's seven things that happened this week. So that he gave out Tom Cotton's personal cell phone number because he did -- Yeah, yeah. And this was over -- Over Daylight Savings Time. Daylight Savings Time, over when it gets dark. Hey, golfer's lives matter. [ Laughter ] [ Cheers and applause ] What do you make of a thing like that? He just -- he said -- Well, I did say -- I've got his cell phone number. So hopefully he'll keep mine private. [ Laughter ] Same here as all the journalists. Me too. We're all in the same boat here. Yeah, okay. All right. We're spending -- we're spending billions building AI data centers while hiring slows across a bunch of the economy. Is that true, first of all? So, hiring has slowed a bit. But we still are pretty good in terms of what kind of shape we're in in the labor market. On employment rates of 4.2%, there are very few layoffs in this economy. One thing that's -- one of the bright spots in the jobs market is actually construction jobs. And that is -- Yeah, that's in part because of data centers, right? It's temporary, but, you know, there's a lot of momentum and a lot of demand for this. We've also seen manufacturing jobs come back in the last few months, which is a good story. So, jobs market is good. AI investment is a net positive for this economy. Okay. Elon Musk says he sees a future where SpaceX could be worth more than the entire global economy. Wow. What does the panel make of that? So, that's not even his entire business portfolio. That's just the SpaceX part of it. Well, that's a big part of it. And look, you know, there are -- there are a great expectations of what he could do in space. Speaking of data centers, they're unpopular here on land. He wants to build them in space. Nuclear -- they want to put nuclear reactors on the moon. Did you hear that this week? No. Hey, yeah, front page of the New York Times. The Russia and America are both thinking of putting nuclear reactors. Yeah, like a small modular reactor may make sense. If you're dependent on what you're going to power it up there for. Yeah, what are we powering it up there for? Oh, no. So, man, when we get to a point, you can make it to a thousand dollars. Important that we didn't know. It's like, "Home, I bear, watch this." And it's a whole way. And at some point, it may make sense. But, you know, the one thing I will say about the AI, but you've got to watch out. Because there are -- I think there are three or four strata of AI data center operations going on. I'm thinking about data centers. Yeah. You've got to be careful. Some of them have the sustaining power, the capital expenditure plants, the sustainums. Some of them are speculative, like strip walls. So, don't be surprised if you don't see, you know, some reset. In my state, we're trying to, as a matter of public policy, go after the ones that make sense, address the local concerns. But people should be aware. Not all data centers that are driving and supporting AI are created alike. You need to look at the capital investment that's being made, who's backing it. And we're going to have some people probably getting -- getting on it. I'm worried about the uninformed investor making investments in data centers that may be missing. I'm worried about these few people in the world who are always telling me and us how things are going to be in the future. Mark Zuckerberg. We're all going to be wearing these fucking -- no, we're not. And we don't want -- we're all going to be -- remember when he was all about, we're all going to be living in this virtual world. You'll be able to write a unicorn at a concert with -- That would be cool. But not like -- not cool to me. And Elon Musk, you know, again, one of these very few people who will determine, apparently, what the future is going to be. I know I have this argument all the time with him. I don't get it going to Mars. Like, how bad would we have to rat-fuck this planet before it was better than living in a place that has no air? It's 200 degrees below zero? It's just an insanity that we wouldn't put the effort into saving the one place that is the Goldilocks planet. I don't want to live on Mars. That's what they want the nuclear reactor on the moon for. Because it's easier to start any space exploration from the moon. I think we've got to do both. I mean, I can remind -- I'm sure Queen Isabella was going, "Clamus, do you really want to do this? There's nothing over there in the world's flat." So we've all -- we as a species have to explore. We still got to explore more here and learn more about it. We know very little bit about the oceans, but we have to explore. It drives innovation. We benefit from it. Now, striking the balance, but no. You got to try and go to Mars, and I don't know. You did that one video, Uranus, maybe. I don't know. (laughter and applause) Would you go to Mars? I went in a heart rate. You would go to Mars. I'd go on a -- I actually had a Senate member ask me if we could get a codel to go up and to visit the International Space Station. I'd be gay, and of course I'd be gay. Okay, that's -- then you come back. Mars, you're not coming back. You'd have to live underground because this tremendous radiation. There's dust storms that last six months. If the power goes out, you can't exactly call the cable guy. Yeah. You just die. But you would want to do that. No, that's actually the exploration. That's what the nuclear reactors are for. I mean, if you talk to it, at least -- But you've got to get it from -- then you've got to get it to Mars tomorrow. Right, from the moon. I'd rather die with an accident on Mars than die falling in my bathtub. So, you know, I'm like, "I might explore." I might explore. I'm like, "Good luck." All right. Well, I will say -- Bill, you asked about nuclear reactors. When you talk to these folks who are building the data centers and at the center of AI and what we're doing, you know, they will say the biggest problem that they have is access to power. Is that our power grip -- we just do not have enough power and electricity to power this future. We need nuclear. Right. So, the nuclear is very in right now. It's back on Earth and on the moon. Right. (laughter) Last question for you, Senator. Would you support Rubio or Vance in 2028 as the Republican nominee? Or are you considering running? Look, the only thing I'm -- I'm going to support solid Republican candidate. Marco's a friend of mine. I can't judge JD because I barely know him. But I'll tell you, Marco Rubio is a great guy, a man of integrity. And I think he's doing a good job with a president that throws your curveball every once in a while. Sounds like it's Rubio. Sounds like you're saying Rubio. Well, I just know Rubio -- I know Rubio better. Marco's -- Marco's a great guy. I was born in Florida. I followed Florida politics. He was Speaker of the House there. He's a good guy. And I'll tell you, he's got an incredible sense of humor and an encyclopedic knowledge of -- I'm going to do the show. (applause) How's he resisting me? He was drawn away. Great. Come on. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. Catch all new episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher every Friday night at 10. Or watch them anytime on HBO on demand. For more information, log on to HBO.com.