Moody’s Ratings said Monday it projects at least $3 trillion in spending globally over the next five years to keep pace with rapid data center and artificial intelligence-driven capacity growth fueled by hyperscaler investments. Spending by the six U.S. hyperscalers (Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Oracle, Meta Platforms Inc. and CoreWeave, Inc.) approached $400 billion in 2025 and is on track to reach $500 billion in 2026 and $600 billion in 2027.
“The race to energize new data center capacity remains in its early stages, with robust capacity growth poised to continue globally for at least the next 12 to 18 months,” Moody’s Ratings reported. The International Energy Agency projects that global data center capacity as measured by electricity
consumption will reach about 600 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2026, up 14% from an estimated 525 TWh in 2025, itself a 20% increase from the actual 436 TWh consumed in 2024.
However, Moody’s Ratings cautioned that regulatory risk and power limitations remain key constraints on development. “Local opposition to new data centers has increased in some markets amid mounting public concerns about their power and water consumption,” the report stated. “By contrast, regions with supportive laws are likely to continue to experience new development, while some are making changes to their regulatory frameworks to encourage new data center development for AI.”
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