Ever since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, a torrent of money has flowed into building out data centers to power the AI boom.
The efforts reached a fever pitch the day after Donald Trump’s second inauguration in 2025, when a bevy of AI luminaries including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Softbank founder Masayoshi Son crowded into the Oval Office to announce a $500 billion private investment in data centers.
But as the public has grown jittery about the impacts of AI on society and the job market — and story after story has landed about the downsides of hosting data centers in local communities — the buildout has emerged as a major political flashpoint and a key issue in the looming midterms.
The data industry’s headwinds aren’t just political, either. As the Financial Times reports, serious cracks are forming at the financial and logistical level, especially as serious AI revenue remains elusive.
