SemiAnalysis, a research firm, said on 19 October 2026 that data center building will speed up sharply in 2027. It expects more than 50GW of new capacity that year. A gigawatt (GW) is a unit of power capacity. The firm said over 24GW across 40 campuses is in advanced construction and due in 2027. It said most of those sites are more than halfway done, with outdoor cooling and electrical gear installed. It said hundreds of sites are at that stage. It also said companies have signed binding leases worth slightly under $1 trillion so far this year.
These are SemiAnalysis's own estimates, drawn from paid models whose data the article does not publish. Its numbers vary. Investor Brad Gerstner, it said, cited its 2027 forecast as +43GW and expects only about 25GW to be built. The article itself says 50GW or more. It gives the lease total as slightly under, and also as over, $1 trillion, and a closing line says $1.3 trillion. The firm said labor, supply and funding problems remain. It also said memory and chips could become the main limit in 2027-28. It did not say which sites will be late.
SemiAnalysis argues that more capacity would mean cheaper AI computing and faster model progress. It also says borrowing costs would have to rise to pay for it. For teams that buy cloud or AI services, this is a forecast of supply, not capacity already delivered.