By 2030, global expenditure on data centers is projected to reach several trillion US dollars, with the United States and China acting as the primary catalysts for this expansion.
This unprecedented growth is a tangible manifestation of the “unseen forces” of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing, which are driving a worldwide construction boom to accommodate their immense computational requirements.
Market analyses predict that up to $7 trillion will be invested in data centers over the next six years. This substantial capital outlay is overwhelmingly led by technology firms in the US,
Particularly the “big three” – Amazon, Microsoft, and Google Cloud, which collectively accounted for almost two-thirds of global cloud revenue in Q2 2025. Chinese tech behemoths like Alibaba and Tencent also contribute significantly, with combined capital expenditure budgets for 2025 amounting to hundreds of billions of US dollars.
These investments are largely directed towards establishing the industrial-scale infrastructure and resilient energy sources imperative for high-performance AI and cloud computing.
Despite this aggressive build-out, the latest Allianz Commercial report, “The Data Centre Construction Boom,” raises questions about the sustained viability of this expansion. Surging construction costs represent a significant limiting factor, with project expenses escalating from initial ranges of $200-$300 million to current averages of $500 million to $2 billion for standard facilities, and some mega-projects now exceeding $20 billion.
Furthermore, the inherent complexity of data center construction and operation mandates specialized insurance provisions to mitigate risks encompassing power supply vulnerabilities, workmanship defects, fire hazards, and natural catastrophes.
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