Hyperscale data center capacity is poised to nearly triple over the next six years, driven by the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, says Synergy Research Group, a strategic market intelligence firm for emerging IT and cloud.

Synergy predicts that more data centers will be built during this period, while older facilities will be upgraded to accommodate greater capacity, resulting in a nearly threefold increase in hyperscale capacity overall.

Synergy conducted an analysis of 19 of the world’s largest cloud and internet service companies that meet its criteria for being classified as hyperscale operators. As of mid-2023, these companies collectively operated 926 significant data centers worldwide. Additionally, Synergy has identified 427 planned facilities, with more than a hundred expected to launch each year.

While the total number of global data centers has doubled in the past five years according to Synergy, the distribution of hyperscale data centers varies from region to region, as does the ownership model (owned versus leased). Nonetheless, it’s worth noting that not all analysts share an optimistic outlook, with CCS Insight recently suggesting that generative AI might face challenges in 2024 due to factors like cost, risk, and complexity overshadowing the hype of 2023.

The surge in hyperscale data center capacity is in direct response to the computational demands of AI workloads. As AI continues to be integrated into more applications and industries, this trend is expected to persist, making hyperscale data centers critical infrastructure for the digital future.