Cancellations and delays of new US datacenters have increased as the artificial intelligence boom runs up against a slate of issues, including supply chain snags, energy shortages and tariff-induced restraints.
Grassroots opposition from local communities has also derailed some plans, and some investors have grown wary of datacenters amid fears of an AI bubble.
Dozens of plans for datacenters were killed or delayed in December or January, according to reports from the investment research firm MacroEdge and climate news outlet Heatmap. MacroEdge’s research identified 26 cancellations through January – up from one in October.
The complex knot of issues raises questions about the US’s ability to quickly facilitate the datacenter boom. Because the increase in production has been powering US growth over the last 18 months, major delays could have broader economic implications, MacroEdge’s chief economist, Don Johnson, wrote.
“The [Trump] administration is going to be scrambling to find its next growth engine as the datacenter machine
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