Yahoo Finance featured DataBank CFO Kevin Ooley in coverage of infrastructure challenges facing the booming AI data center market following Nvidia’s blockbuster earnings report. The article explored how surging demand for data centers driven by artificial intelligence applications has created unprecedented power requirements, with US data center power demand expected to more than double by 2030 according to McKinsey research.
Ooley explained that new data center buildouts including securing power sources, land, zoning, construction, and cooling equipment typically require 18 to 24 months to complete. While supply chain constraints presented the primary obstacle two years ago, power availability has emerged as the critical bottleneck limiting data center development across the industry.
“Power is the big bottleneck right now. Two years ago, it was supply chain, getting access to the equipment. I would say power right now has jumped ahead of that.”
— Kevin Ooley, CFO of DataBank
The article contextualized rapid growth in data center demand from hyperscalers including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta, alongside enterprise firms deploying AI for operations. Individual data center power requests have escalated dramatically, with some campuses now requiring capacity ranging from 300 megawatts to several gigawatts to support AI computing infrastructure.
Access Yahoo Finance’s full analysis of AI data center infrastructure challenges and power demands.
