Sources & Citations

Build vs Buy AI Infrastructure

5 primary sources 4 categories We publish the receipts

Capital expenditure forecasts

Goldman · McKinsey

Goldman Sachs Research projection on AI-driven data center power demand — anchor for the buy-side capital deployment forecast.

Goldman Sachs Research — “AI poised to drive 160% increase in power demand” (now superseded by the 165% by 2030 update) View source

McKinsey analysis of AI data center capacity expansion to meet growing demand.

McKinsey — AI Power: Expanding data center capacity to meet growing demand View source

Electricity demand outlook

IEA

IEA Electricity 2024 outlook on data center electricity demand — the canonical international agency baseline for the buy-side demand projection.

IEA — Electricity 2024 View source

Federal energy research

LBNL

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory 2024 U.S. Data Center Energy Usage Report — canonical federal study on data center energy intensity, used as the TCO modeling anchor.

LBNL — 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report (Shehabi et al.) View source

Operator survey

Uptime

Uptime Institute 2024 Global Data Center Survey — industry baseline for operator-side decision-making patterns, build-vs-lease, and PUE expectations.

Uptime Institute Global Data Center Survey 2024 View source

These are the primary sources behind our research. Have a better one, or spot an error? Tell us — we’ll correct it.