Investment in datacenters to peak by 2029, place your bets please

The AI-driven datacenter construction frenzy shows no signs of slowing, but neither do concerns that the whole edifice could collapse under the weight of its own hype and mounting investment demands.

Moody's 2026 Outlook report on the global datacenter market, seen by The Register, forecasts business as usual, with demand for server farm capacity continuing to rise in support of AI, cloud computing, and internet services.

The financial services biz estimates at least $3 trillion in investment is required to keep pace with the projected level of capacity expansion between now and the end of the decade. This covers the cost of buildings, the IT infrastructure, and the power required to keep the lights on.

However, the report flags worries over power grid constraints and construction bottlenecks, warning that demonstrating actual revenue generation will become "increasingly important in the AI ecosystem" to silence growing chatter about an "AI bubble ...