Episode summary
How $31 Trillion In Datacenters Get Built By 2050 — With Dallas Dolen
Big Technology Podcast
· · 38 min · Guests: Dallas Dolen
Summary
PwC’s Dallas Dolen argues that the projected $31 trillion in AI infrastructure spending through 2050 is driven less by any single model company than by a much broader and still-growing demand for compute, tokens, data, chips, memory, and power. He says frontier-model progress is only part of the story, because usage is rising across enterprises and consumers, and because efficiency gains are unlikely to offset total consumption growth.
A major theme is power. Dolen says the real constraint is not just capital, but whether utilities, governments, and companies can collaborate fast enough to build generation and grid capacity. He frames data-center buildout as a practical answer to long-running infrastructure shortfalls, while also noting that political fights, permitting, and local opposition can slow projects and change where they get built.
Dolen also expects the buildout to be global, not just U.S.-centric, with Southeast Asia and parts of the Middle East positioned to capture more construction if they can attract investment. He is broadly a buyer of the $31 trillion number, but says elections, state-level politics, and higher interest rates could shift timing and financing even if they do not fully derail the total.
Key takeaways
- Dolen says demand for compute is already outstripping supply, which is why PwC sees $31 trillion of AI infrastructure spending through 2050.
- He argues efficiency gains will not eliminate the need for more data centers because total usage, prompts, and throughput are still rising.
- Dolen says power, permitting, and local politics are bigger constraints than model quality or frontier-model competition.
- He expects more construction to shift outside the U.S., especially toward Southeast Asia and, eventually, parts of the Middle East.
- Dolen says the biggest enterprise problem is not model capability but top-down leadership on where and how to deploy AI.
Notable quotes
“Demand for compute is vastly outstripping the supply for it, just full stop”
“the build out of infrastructure I think maybe just separating that concept out from you know even just pure AI itself is a really critical piece of the equation”
“I actually think we're going to get pretty darn close to that number barring massive economic displacement”
“the number one thing missing right now is actually top-down leadership vision for application of the new toolset within their organization”
“you will have more throughput into the pipes. And I think that's, you know, further argument for, you know, the the the fact that, you know, the build-out will continue”
How the episode opens
How does the projected 31 trillion in data center construction coming our way actually get built? And will it ever get built? Let's talk about it with PwC TMT leader Dallas Dolan in a conversation brought to you by PwC. And Dallas, it's great to see you again. Welcome back to the channel.
It's great to be here, Alex. Great to see you.
All right. So, recently PwC released a report on the projected data center spend. And you know, I'm recently out of looking at Anthropic's S-1 where they're planning to spend 500 and something billion dollars in the coming years on AI infrastructure.
So, I thought like when you looked at where spending is going to come, maybe it will just top out there. Uh but your report tells a very different story. And the headline is pretty wild.
So, the headline uh of this report says that global investment in AI infrastructure could hit 31 trillion through 2050 with uh data center spending in 2050 coming out at 1.8 trillion per year. So, clearly PwC doesn't think given the reporting that it's done that this data center construction boom is going to slow down slow down anytime soon. So, it'd be great to hear from your from you uh your perspective on um where we go from here to there and why uh you think that it ends up getting to those large numbers.
Yeah, happy to go into it. And you know, it's amazing that the 31 trillion is the headline number, right? As you as you mentioned, but the possibility for growth on top of the 31 trillion, it should be the thing that's even more remarkable about it, which is the possibility it gets to, you know, 50 trillion depending on the way certain cards fall um over the next uh over the next few years.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- ai infrastructure investment
- data center power supply
- data center buildout race
- data center political opposition
- compute demand vs efficiency
Companies and tickers mentioned
- PwC
Watch the episode
Watch “How $31 Trillion In Datacenters Get Built By 2050 — With Dallas Dolen” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Big Technology Podcast, this episode and its artwork belong to Alex Kantrowitz. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
