The data center market is booming with little indication it'll be slowing down anytime soon — despite efforts to halt the processing sprawl.
According to a new report by S&P Global, the global data center market ballooned to $61 billion in 2025, a half billion dollar increase from last year and another record high for the industry. The money is trying to keep pace with expanding infrastructure projects needed to funnel more data processing power to generative AI and its makers.
Despite concerns that interest in AI will wane and render projects moot, S&P experts told CNBC that they predict demand for AI applications will stay strong in 2026, and skepticism of major AI players is unlikely to change the market trends. Still, the numbers may not be as positive as they appear. S&P Global found that a majority of the financing surge came from private equity financing, a precarious debt model that's needed to feed the massive, energy-intensive industry, CNBC reported.
According to an October S&P Global report, data centers were expected to increase their power grid use by another 22 percent by the end of 2025, and predict that number will triple by 2030. Other experts have spotted similar trends.
In response to these trends, communities around the country have been pushing back against data center deals. Earlier this month, a coalition of 350 nonprofit environmental organizations signed a letter outlining major concerns about the environmental impact of large data centers, urging all 50 states to halt the expansion of data center projects. Over the last year, data center deals have faced legal and social blowback from community groups and local advocacy organizations, including cases in Virginia and Wisconsin. Advocates have even created litigation tool kits to support the fight against AI data center expansion.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has pledged to accelerate federal data center permitting and bypass established environmental laws in order to meet goals outlined in its new AI action plan.
