The acceleration in adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to a spike in data center investment over the last two years. The size of the global data center industry has been estimated by Precedence Research to reach, growing at a CAGR of 11.4% over the next decade. Most expansion is due to occur in the United States, where yearly investment in data center construction has doubled since 2022.
Similar revving up of activity has also been occurring in other large economies, especially in China and the European Union. The organizations driving today’s demand for AI data centers are cloud service providers, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Baidu. These companies require increasing computational capacity to host models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini. AI has provided a significant spur to the evolution of data centers. The computational power needed for AI workloads is a primary driver, raising the energy consumption required. ‘Normal’ data centers typically use 5-to-10 megawatts (MWs) of power. However, large hyperscale data centers are becoming more prevalent and may require 100 MWs. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says their yearly electricity consumption is comparable to the demand fromto construct new AI-ready data centers in northern Virginia, Paris, and Frankfurt. U.S. server-provider Super Micro Computer is investing in locations, both domestic and in Asian markets. In the Asia-Pacific region, HCL Technologies is working with Schneider Electric to provide solutions for energy management.in the US started in Q3 2024, with corresponding high levels of investment. The Red Oak Data Center Campus in Texas spans 118 hectares and is anticipated to be completed in Q4 2027, with a 480-MW capacity. In South Carolina, the Aiken AI Data Center, a 66,425 square meter complex on 971 hectares, is expected to be finished by Q2 202