Five charts to start your day

The mega byte is mightier than the barrel?

There is an arms race underway thanks to the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. Tech giants Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft are pouring vast sums of money into building and upgrading data centres to handle the AI boom.

These hyperscale cloud companies are now far outspending their counterparts in the oil industry on a capital expenditure basis. It’s a trend that has accelerated since the onset of the pandemic.

As crude oil prices fluctuate, the tech titans remain steadfast in their commitment to expanding their AI infrastructure, with spending projected to reach nearly $200 billion annually by 2025. As you can see in the chart below by trendlineHQ, we are rapidly approaching this projection.

This huge investments in data centres, particularly in those equipped to meet the power-hungry demands of AI clients, are set to have far-reaching ripple effects across the tech landscape and beyond.

Source: trendlineHQ

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