Decoder with Nilay Patel · Thursday, October 1, 2026
The rapid expansion of data centers is driven by hyperscalers in an 'existential race' to achieve Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), leading to billions being invested in acquiring land and power infrastructure as quickly as possible. Developers often package 'paper data centers' with secured power access and permits, selling them at a premium, with local residents frequently excluded from the process.
“And that means you have billions, hundreds of billions, trillions of dollars flowing into... anyone who will get them what they need as fast as possible.”
“And so you kind of watch over the last two years or so, these different aspects of data center development get totally jammed up.”
“At no part, in this chain are local residents of a player. They're just not there. Like they're not part of this system.”