AI companies also need gobs of some of those same chips to build out data centers, and there aren’t enough for everyone. AI data centers tend to be more lucrative for construction firms, which relegates anything else to a lower priority. For other types of commercial real estate, construction spending is barely growing and in some cases is declining. But he notes that AI data center demand is probably worsening chronic capacity shortages in construction. Associated Builders and Contractors says that the construction industry will be short nearly half a million workers next year.

Source: Washington Post February 08, 2026 14:41 UTC