[Brookings Institution: Total U.S. investment in data centers and related AI infrastructure is expected to reach $10.3 trillion from 2025 to 2032] September 24th, Brookings Institution economist Stijn van Nieuwerburgh estimated in a newly released paper this week that the U.S.’s total investment in data centers and related AI infrastructure is expected to reach $10.3 trillion between 2025 and 2032. This means that annual investment will account for a staggering 3.6% of US gross domestic product (GDP). Never in history since the 19th century has the U.S. economy been so dependent on the expansion of a single industry. This investment is profoundly reshaping every corner of the U.S. economy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and spawning a new class of billionaires. At the same time, it also brings huge risks because a lot of it is built on debt. Once industry expansion comes to an abrupt halt, the resulting shock wave will quickly sweep through the entire U.S. economy.