The number of hyperscale data centers, operated by tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, has surpassed the 1,000 mark this year, according to Synergy Research Group. This milestone comes after the number of large data centers increased to 992 at the end of 2023. The rapid growth in hyperscale data centers can be attributed to the boom in AI and cloud workloads.

According to the statement, the total capacity of hyperscale data centers has doubled in just four years,, driven by the increasing number if data centers and demand for the storage facilities and their capacity, with generative AI technology playing a major role.

Synergy Research Group highlights the United States as the global leader in data center capacity, commanding 51% of the total, measured by MW of critical IT load, followed by Europe and China, each holding approximately a third of the balance. Despite the presence of hyperscalers in Africa, the continent’s impact on the global data center landscape remains limited, with only about 1.6% of global capacity, measured in MW, despite having approximately 17.8% of the world’s population.

Synergy Research Group predicts that total hyperscale data center capacity will double again in the next four years. This growth will be driven by both the increasing number of data centers and their larger scale, with generative AI technology playing a significant role.

Synergy’s analysis is based on the data center footprint of 19 major cloud and internet service firms, including SaaS, IaaS, PaaS, search, social networking, e-commerce, and gaming providers. The top three companies with the broadest data center footprints are Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, which together account for 60% of all hyperscale data center capacity. They are followed by Meta/Facebook, Alibaba, Tencent, Apple, ByteDance, and other smaller hyperscale operators.

Synergy’s known pipeline of future hyperscale data centers currently stands at 440 facilities in various stages of planning, development, or fitting out. 

John Dinsdale, Chief Analyst at Synergy Research Group, highlights the complexity and nuances behind the trends, such as self-owned data centers being larger than leased ones and those in the home country of a hyperscale company being more significant than international facilities. However, overall, the major growth trend lines are heading upwards and to the right.

“We’re also seeing something of a bifurcation in data center scale. While the core data centers are getting ever bigger, there is also an increasing number or relatively smaller data centers being deployed in order to push infrastructure nearer to customers. Putting it all together though, all major growth trend lines are heading sharply up and to the right,” he said.