The Deep View: The trillion dollar AI infrastructure arms race

Posted on September 8, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

1. The trillion-dollar AI infrastructure arms race
2. Boston Dynamics, Toyota harness large behavior models to power humanoids
3. OpenAI is developing an AI jobs platform
 AI INFRASTRUCTUREThe trillion-dollar AI infrastructure arms race


The numbers from Thursday’s White House tech dinner were so large they bordered on absurd. When President Trump went around the table asking each CEO how much they planned to invest in America, Mark Zuckerberg committed to “something like at least $600 billion” through 2028.

Apple’s Tim Cook matched that figure. Google’s Sundar Pichai said $250 billion. Combined with OpenAI’s revised projection this week that it will burn through $115 billion by 2029 — $80 billion more than previously expected — these announcements reveal an industry in the midst of the most expensive infrastructure buildout in modern history.

The scale has reshaped the entire American economy. AI data center spending now approaches 2% of total U.S. GDP, and Renaissance Macro Research found that so far in 2025, AI capital expenditure has contributed more to GDP growth than all U.S. consumer spending combined — the first time this has ever occurred.

What’s driving this isn’t just ambition but desperation to control costs: OpenAI has become one of the world’s largest cloud renters, with computing expenses projected to exceed $150 billion from 2025-2030. The company’s cash burn projections quadrupled for 2028, jumping from $11 billion to $45 billion, largely due to costly “false starts and do-overs” in AI training.

Meta’s 2025 capital expenditures represent a 68% increase from 2024 levels as it races to build its own infrastructure. McKinsey estimates the global AI infrastructure buildout could cost $5.2 to $7.9 trillion through 2030.

The 33 attendees included the biggest names in tech: Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, Oracle’s Safra Catz, and Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang. Notably absent was Elon Musk, who claimed on social media he was invited but couldn’t attend amid his ongoing feud with Trump.The moment was captured on a hot mic when Zuckerberg later told Trump, “I wasn’t sure what number you wanted,” though whether this reflected genuine uncertainty or strategic positioning remains unclear.Zuckerberg’s hot mic moment about not knowing “what number you wanted” suggests that these commitments aren’t emerging from detailed financial models, but rather from competitive dynamics and political positioning. The scale of spending has reached a point where traditional ROI calculations seem almost irrelevant. OpenAI’s projections jumping from $11 billion to $45 billion for 2028 alone show how unpredictable this technology remains, even for the companies building it. The acknowledgment of “false starts and do-overs” in AI training reveals an industry still figuring out the fundamentals.What’s most striking is how this infrastructure race has become an economic force unto itself. When AI capital expenditure drives more GDP growth than consumer spending, we’re seeing the emergence of an economy increasingly powered by speculative technology investment rather than traditional economic activity. Whether this produces the transformative returns these companies are betting on remains the trillion-dollar question.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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