We marvel at the ability of AI to provide useful information and advice when prompted well. With the emergence of Agentic AI, we’re on the verge of having personal assistants capable of carrying out complex tasks on our behalf.
All of this depends on a massive technological backbone: data centers to deliver compute power, the electricity to drive GPUs, and the communications networks to connect it all.
The Scale of AI Infrastructure
OpenAI is in the process of building what may become the largest technological infrastructure in history—investing upwards of a trillion dollars. The system will include seven massive data centers, such as “Stargate” near Abilene, Texas, followed by others in Austin, New Mexico, Ohio, and additional sites yet to be determined.
The power demands of this network will exceed those required to run New York, Los Angeles, and San Diego combined. By 2029, more than $500 billion will be invested globally in building a home for AI.
That raises an important question: What share of that investment will flow into your community?
Jobs, Supply Chains, and Local Impact
Consider the sheer scale of construction. At Stargate near Abilene alone, 4,000 construction workers rotate 10-hour shifts, 24/7, for years. Or look at the $2 billion semiconductor facility producing billions of dollars’ worth of NVIDIA GPUs. In Memphis, Grok3’s “Colossal” project operates the world’s largest supercomputer.
The supply chain driving this expansion is immense, spanning semiconductors, cloud platforms, power utilities, fiber networks, and logistics. Communities with the foresight to align themselves with these needs will benefit the most.
- Semiconductors & Hardware: NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, TSMC, Samsung
- Cloud & AI Platforms: AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle
- Data Centers: Equinix, Digital Realty, CoreWeave
- Power & Utilities: Dominion Energy, Green Mountain Power, Nordic renewable providers
- Networking & Fiber: Cisco, Huawei, European fiber leaders
- Logistics & Supply Chains: SAP, Oracle, Blue Yonder, Kinaxis, C3.ai
Beyond Commerce: Defense and Robotics
AI infrastructure isn’t just about business efficiency. It will power self-driving vehicles, autonomous robots, and AI-enabled warfare systems. For instance, in Columbus, Ohio, Anduril is making a $1 billion investment to create 4,000 jobs producing military drones.
The race to build compute power has become a race to achieve Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). As Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, observed in a recent All-In Summit interview, winning this race requires unprecedented speed and scale.
What Communities Can Do
The opportunity is clear. Communities should evaluate their competitive advantages—be it workforce, infrastructure, energy resources, or logistics—and position themselves as ideal partners for companies in the AI supply chain.
The next step? Create a targeted AI supply chain marketing campaign. Reach out to key industry players, highlight how your region can fast-track their projects, and make your community indispensable in the global AI buildout.