How insane the data center boom is getting, in one chart

The US is in the midst of a pretty staggering electronics-related building boom. Demand is so huge, in fact, that data centers are almost all leased before they are built.

It stems, in part, from the rush to expand the ability to make sophisticated semiconductors in the US, part of the broader story of global economic decoupling that’s developed in recent years.

But the explosion of excitement over AI, and the data center building boom that any AI revolution might require, is another source on big spending on commercial construction.

For the record, these numbers corroborate a lot of what we were hearing from executives over the last few weeks of earnings results, many of whom noted the frenzy of activity in electronics and semiconductor manufacturing.