Brookings projects $10.3 trillion AI build-out, surpassing historic railroad era

Brookings Institution projects $10.3 trillion in U.S. data center and AI infrastructure investment between 2025 and 2032.

Annual spending will average 3.6% of national GDP.

This represents the largest single-industry build-out in U.S. history, exceeding the scale of the railroad and highway eras.

Economist Stijn van Nieuwerburgh reports the expansion creates jobs but fuels inflation and diverts labor and power from other sectors.

Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle lead the spending, which increasingly relies on debt financing.