An exclusive breakdown of estimated expenses to construct an AI data center in Texas reveals why developers face billions of dollars in expenses.
Roughly $750 billion. That’s how much Meta Platforms Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Google owner Alphabet Inc. are expected to devote to capital expenditures this year alone.
That’s more than the entire gross domestic product of Ireland or Belgium. More than half of what all of the companies in the S&P 500 Index spent in total last year. Enough to cut a $5,500 check for every household in the US.
There was a time when John McWilliams, part of the research group at real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield, would’ve found it impossible to imagine four companies spending that much, primarily on data centers, in a single year. “We’ve never seen it,” he said.