Oxford Economics sees US equipment spending up 40% vs Europe's 12% by end of 2025, with Big Tech pouring over $725 billion into AI this year alone.
U.S. business investment is on pace to grow three times faster than in Europe, driven largely by spending on artificial intelligence equipment, according to a forecast from Oxford Economics cited by the Financial Times on Monday.
Corporate spending on new equipment and facilities in the U.S. is expected to jump 40% by the end of next year compared with 2021 levels, the forecasts showed. European spending is projected to rise just 12% over the same period.
Even before ChatGPT launched in 2022, Europe was already trailing the U.S. in tech investment, the FT reported. The widening gap underscores the challenge for European companies and policymakers trying to keep pace with America's AI-led capital expenditure boom.
Yet the rapid buildout carries its own risks. The Bank for International Settlements has warned that the surge in AI investment could end in a bust, with too much money chasing uncertain returns.
The scale is enormous. Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are on track to invest more than $725 billion this year alone on AI infrastructure, the FT said.
At the same time, public opposition to data centers is hardening. A Gallup poll cited by The Wall Street Journal found that 71% of Americans would oppose a data center in their community. The first quarter of this year saw a record number of blocked or delayed data-center projects, according to Data Center Watch.
University of Michigan professor Ben Green told the WSJ that companies pitching themselves as good neighbors are simultaneously fighting moratoriums and regulation. "That tension will define the next stage of the data center fight," PYMNTS wrote last week. "Community opposition is no longer merely delaying individual projects. It is forcing businesses to disclose more, offer tangible benefits and absorb more infrastructure costs, while pushing regulators and politicians toward protections they had been slow to impose."
The political and regulatory landscape for AI infrastructure is shifting, even as the investment numbers keep climbing.
Prepared with AlphaScala editorial tooling from the source reporting linked above. Indexable analysis may include a cited Alpha Score value. Publishing checks screen each story before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.