Moody's Forecasts $3 Trillion Global Data Center Investment Boom Fueled by AI

Moody's Forecasts $3 Trillion Global Data Center Investment Boom Fueled by AI

January 13, 2026

The global data center industry is poised for an unprecedented capital expenditure surge, driven by the insatiable compute demands of artificial intelligence. In a landmark report, Moody's Ratings has projected that at least $3 trillion will be invested worldwide in data center infrastructure over the next five years. This staggering figure underscores the scale of investment required to keep pace with capacity growth primarily fueled by hyperscale cloud providers.

The ratings agency detailed that this colossal investment wave is a direct response to spending by major U.S. technology firms. In 2025 alone, capital expenditures from six leading hyperscalers—Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Oracle, Meta, and CoreWeave—reached nearly $400 billion, with an expected additional $200 billion increase over the following two years. To finance the projected $3 trillion build-out, capital markets are rapidly adapting, with institutional investors increasingly joining traditional banks to provide development capital during the construction phase.

Moody's noted that the race to build new capacity is still in its early stages, with double-digit growth expected to continue. A significant portion of new capacity is already pre-leased to hyperscalers, which the report said mitigates the risk of creating a surplus of unoccupied facilities. However, this practice also increases counterparty concentration risk for developers. The report also highlighted a shift in risk allocation, where tenants are increasingly accepting construction delivery risks—such as exempting power availability from completion requirements—to accelerate project timelines.

Despite the bullish outlook, the report outlined several significant challenges. Local opposition to new data centers is rising due to public concerns over power and water consumption, while grid limitations in many regions are already constraining development. Concurrently, rising costs for key components like construction equipment and GPUs are expected to persist. "Additional production will remain insufficient to moderate 2026 price increases," Moody's stated, leading to higher construction costs and, ultimately, increased tenant lease rates. The agency also warned of potential operational issues emerging due to the "sheer increase in the number of data centers and the expanding ranks of newer, less experienced operators in the market."

This forecast aligns with other industry analyses, including a recent report from JLL which also predicted a $3 trillion investment supercycle by 2030, potentially doubling global data center capacity. The Moody's outlook solidifies the view that the AI era is triggering one of the largest infrastructure build-outs in modern history, reshaping energy grids, capital flows, and the global digital landscape for years to come.

Source: datacenterdynamics