AI backlash threatens trillion-dollar data centre boom
The gist
Tech executives at an FT summit admitted the industry fuelled hostility to its own data centre expansion.
Voters and states pushing back could slow the buildout that AI profits depend on.
How it unfolded
- Sep 2, 2026A PwC report forecasts global data centre spending will reach US$31.6 trillion by 2050 on the AI boom, and up to US$50 trillion if AI adoption accelerates.
- Oct 7, 2026Texas puts a brake on its data centre boom as Republican leaders respond to public backlash over the state's rapid AI buildout.
- Nov 3, 2026Voters across the country deliver a setback to the data centres needed to sustain the AI boom, two days before the selloff.
Key terms
- FT
- A British daily newspaper focused on business and economic news, published in print and digitally.
- grid
- An interconnected network of power stations, substations and lines that delivers electricity from producers to consumers.
Source: Wikipedia