Wonder why Big Tech is volunteering to pay for its own data center electricity? It’s a drop in the trillion-dollar bucket—power is just 7.6% of total data center capital expenditure, according to McKinsey. (Axios)
Global AI infrastructure spending is projected to hit anywhere from $3.7–$7.9T by 2030. Because the vast majority of that budget is eaten up by IT equipment, paying a premium for electricity is a relatively minor expense for tech giants.
While energy is currently a small line item for Big Tech (how many of us wish we could say the same?), ongoing grid constraints could eventually drive prices high enough to alter data center economics.