Not my article and I don't know any theoretical physics. In case that point happens to be false, I think his other argument still works: - "data centers ... a

Not my article and I don't know any theoretical physics. In case that point happens to be false, I think his other argument still works: - "data centers ... are spread out on the two-dimensional surface of the earth" - if we tightly pack these data centers on the surface it will form a circle with area O(N) so distance to furthest data center is O(sqrt(N)). (sky scraper height is negligible) Anyway, it's more of an interesting thought experiment than of any practical use. Nobody sane would estimate cost of generic "information retrieval" that mixes cost of ram/disk/network.