As we have discussed in the past, investing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) is often thought of in terms of chips, software, and cloud computing. But as we have also discussed in the past, the growth of AI also depends on an enormous physical infrastructure. Today’s weekly market commentary continues that conversation around infrastructure and examines how rising demand for data centers may potentially create additional investment opportunities and what that may mean for investors.
The enclosed chart plots out global data center demand, measured in gigawatts (GW). The chart runs from 2025 through 2030, and measures three categories of data-center demand – Non-AI, AI Inference and AI Training. Currently, as can be seen from the chart, the majority of data center demand is Non-AI related. This category is represented by the striped orange bars. But looking into the future the next few years, the chart shows that while demand for all three categories is expected to grow, AI inference—the computing required when businesses and consumers actively use trained AI models—is projected to expand the fastest. This category is represented by the solid purple bars. And as can be seen, inference demand could increase from approximately 21 gigawatts in 2025 to more than 93 gigawatts in 2030, representing about 43% of total data-center demand.
The piece continues to explain, “AI training and AI inference workloads carry distinct infrastructure requirements that have contributed to a degree of bifurcation within the data-center landscape. Companies in the Real Estate sector have exposure to both hyperscaler data centers, which tend to house training workloads, and network-dense colocation data centers, which tend to house inference workloads and support direct interconnection between customers.” – WFII Chart of the Week 09/01/2026
And then in terms of what this means for investors, “we view network-dense colocation assets as differentiated platforms with leverage to the monetization of AI through enterprise adoption.” – WFII Chart of the Week 09/01/2026
We would ask that you review the attached piece at your convenience and please let us know if you have any questions or if you would like to discuss it further. And as we always end this correspondence, please remember that regardless of current momentum and regardless of the key takeaways in this weekly perspective, we will continue to monitor and manage with a thoughtful approach based on your specific long-term objectives.
