current
AI Datacenter Boom
Rapid growth in datacenter construction driven by increasing AI workloads, impacting energy demand and critical mineral supply chains.
Timeframe
near-term
Impact areas
Detailed Analysis
The increasing popularity of AI tools like ChatGPT has fueled a surge in demand for datacenter space, particularly for high-density facilities capable of handling intensive AI workloads. This trend is not solely attributable to AI, as cloud service providers have been driving datacenter growth for years. However, AI has significantly accelerated this growth and shifted density requirements. "A more recent surge in demand started in late 2021 to early 2022. In this new wave of demand, density requirements have shifted, with customers looking for facilities offering higher amounts of power per square foot."
Context Signals
Global datacenter capacity projected to add 14.3 GW in 2025.
Northern Virginia and Beijing are leading datacenter markets.
Shifting customer demand towards higher power density facilities.
Edge
Increased demand for specialized cooling solutions and power management technologies.
Potential for edge computing to alleviate some of the strain on centralized datacenters.
Development of new datacenter designs optimized for AI workloads.
