Intelligent Data Centres Issue 76 | Page 20

D A T A C E N T R E P R E D I C T I O N S
report for their major developments in Northern Virginia.
According to the report, the market will witness an increase in powered shell data centre development compared to turnkey and fully fitted data centres. It will continue to see the entry of new providers with access to land and power, who will rent the space to other data centre operators by constructing only the core and shell, reducing investment and increasing ROI.
Leading hyperscale operators, including AWS, Microsoft, Meta and Google continue to expand their self-built presence across top US data centre markets, which are likely to co-exist throughout the forecast period.
The report identifies the American Midwest as emerging as a cost-effective alternative to coastal markets, offering strategic connectivity and reliable infrastructure, attracting colocation and hyperscale operators alike.
The key market trends
Megawatt to Gigawatt hyperscale campus
In March 2025, AI contributed over 50 % growth in the U. S. data centre market in 2024, the report says.
The power capacity addition by collocation as well as hyperscale selfbuilt was more than 4.5 GW in 2024. With the rise of AI technologies such as ChatGPT by OpenAI, AI has shifted from a supportive role to a key trend that is reshaping the data centre Industry.
The report identifies the uptake of AI in different sectors as still quite low, with the US Census Bureau indicating that only 3.8 % of businesses were utilising AI for production as of 2024 – a percentage share expected to skyrocket in the next five years. Also, in October 2024, OpenAI increased its data centre presence through collaborations with Oracle and the establishment of new facilities in Texas.
The report says that in addition to open OpenAI, hyperscale cloud service providers and GPU as a service, providers are also expanding their presence significantly in the market – factors expected to have a positive impact.
Innovative data centre technologies
The need for innovative techniques has become essential to meet the increasing demand for efficient, sustainable, and scalable infrastructure. As digital transformation accelerates across industries, the reported data centres must evolve to keep pace with growing technological and environmental
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