Goldman Sachs anticipates that investments in artificial intelligence are entering a more selective phase, with increased attention on the data center infrastructure required to run AI systems.

Shift Towards Solid Infrastructure

According to a recent analysis by Goldman Sachs, the market is moving towards a "flight to quality." Investors are paying closer attention to companies that own and operate large data centers and computing infrastructure. Companies offering narrow AI tools or experimental software are receiving less attention.

Goldman Sachs expects rapid growth in spending on AI infrastructure as companies expand computing capacity for model training and deployment. Hyperscale cloud companies are investing tens of billions of dollars each year in new data centers and computing hardware. Networking systems are also expanding to support this growth.

Reshaping the Data Center Market

Goldman Sachs Research estimates that AI workloads could account for about 30% of total data center capacity in the next two years, as demand for computing power grows in cloud services and enterprise applications. Training large models requires thousands of chips running in parallel for extended periods. Inference, the process of generating responses or predictions, also requires steady computing power when services are running.

Cloud providers and AI developers are now expanding data center capacity at a pace not seen in previous phases of cloud computing. Infrastructure demand extends beyond computing hardware. Energy supply is becoming a central issue in the AI race.

Impact on Energy

Goldman Sachs Research estimates that global data center power demand could rise about 175% by 2030 compared with 2023 levels, driven largely by AI workloads. This increase would be roughly equal to adding the electricity demand of another top-10 power-consuming country to the global grid. Rising power demand is pushing utilities and governments to consider new investment in energy infrastructure.

Infrastructure limits are influencing companies' AI strategies, with data center location becoming crucial for access to stable energy and high-capacity fiber networks. Construction of large data centers involves complex supply chains and depends on long-term energy agreements. Shortages of electrical equipment and delays in grid expansion can slow new projects.