The $3 Trillion AI Data Center Build-Out Becomes All-Consuming For Debt Markets
Artificial intelligence already has a big footprint in stocks. Now lending for data centers is becoming a factor in bonds and credit.
Illustration: Michael Marsicano for Bloomberg Markets
More than $3 trillion. That’s the staggering price tag to build the data centers needed to prepare for the artificial intelligence boom.
Not even the world’s biggest technology companies—not Amazon.com, not Microsoft or Meta Platforms—are prepared to foot the bill with only their own cash. The massive equity investments in private companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic don’t come close to this Industrial Revolution-size cost. And government payments and subsidies can ease the financial burden only so much.