US companies are investing heavily in computers, data centers, and other infrastructure to fuel the AI boom. According to Joseph Politano, investment in fixed assets has increased rapidly to meet the growing demand for computing power. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being poured into high-end computers, data centers, power plants and more. In the U.S. alone, data center construction is currently at a record high of $28.6 billion per year. This is roughly equivalent to the total amount spent on building restaurants, bars, and retail stores combined.
However, this figure only refers to the buildings themselves. It does not include the cost of computers, cables, fans, and other components. U.S. net imports of large computers and accessories have reached record highs in recent months. In total, more than $65 billion was spent. Much of this investment comes from IT companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. These companies are racing to scale their AI systems as quickly as possible. The AI boom is more hardware-intensive than any other tech boom in history and is massively driving investment in the US.