Five tech companies’ capex now tops global oil & gas investment. (IEA)
That’s the headline from the IEA’s freshly updated Energy and AI report. Global hyperscaler spend topped $400B last year and is expected to leap another 75% this year (much of it’s driving the data center buildout). The world’s data center electricity demand grew 17% in 2025, and AI-focused data centers surged 50%.
US grid implications: Some 15-27 GW of onsite gas could end up powering US data centers by 2030. This means overbuilding generation infrastructure 30-70% above demand, the IEA warns…hardly a shortcut amid tight turbine supply.
While we’re here: Fermi America's (hypothetical) 17-GW Amarillo data center has no tenant, no buildings…and now no CEO. Cleanview's satellite tracker shows construction hasn't meaningfully advanced at the world’s biggest planned data center since Feb., not long after a $746M IPO.