Kobeissi: The number of large data centers in the US may more than double by 2030, and tech companies will spend $7 trillion

The Zhitong Finance App learned that artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure construction in the US is reaching an unprecedented level. As technology companies expand production capacity to meet growing AI demand, the number and planned investment amount of large-scale data centers is surging. The Kobeissi Letter, an independent macroeconomic research institute in the US, published an article saying that the US currently has about 90 data centers above 100 megawatts in operation, a record high. If all planned projects are completed, this number could more than double to around 280 by 2030.

This expansion was accompanied by a massive investment cycle. Tech companies are expected to invest around $7 trillion in data centers by 2030, which highlights the scale of infrastructure needed to support AI workloads.

Hyperscale companies have taken the lead in investing heavily. Kobeissi pointed out that since the rise of the AI boom, Amazon (AMZN.US), Microsoft (MSFT.US), Alphabet (GOOGL.US), and Meta (META.US) have signed more than $1.5 trillion in data center lease agreements, including those that have not yet entered into force.

This wave of construction goes far beyond hyperscale enterprises, but brings broad opportunities to the entire AI infrastructure supply chain. Semiconductor and networking companies are investing more to meet growing computing demands, and server, power, and data center operators are simultaneously expanding production capacity.

Judging from the planned production capacity and investment scale, Kobeissi said that AI construction is one of the largest capital expenditure cycles in history.

Globally, the scale of capital expenditure for AI data centers is equally staggering. The latest PwC report predicts that the cumulative global data center spending will reach US$31.6 trillion by 2050, of which the US accounts for nearly half of the share (about US$15.1 trillion), followed by the Asia-Pacific region with US$8.2 trillion. If the spread of AI exceeds expectations, data center spending may even reach 50 trillion US dollars in the next 25 years, far exceeding capital expenditure cycles such as railways, the Internet, and electrification.