Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTCharles KennedyWed, July 1, 2026 at 2:00 AM GMT+2 10 min readNo generation in human history has experienced an infrastructure buildout of this speed and scale.Over the next several years, trillions of dollars will be poured into what industry leaders increasingly describe as AI factories: sprawling campuses filled with advanced processors, networking equipment, cooling systems, and enough electrical demand to rival major cities.McKinsey estimates AI-related infrastructure spending could exceed $5 trillion by 2030, while JLL projects developers may require roughly 100 gigawatts of new data-center capacity over the same period.The scale of the expansion is forcing a shift in how investors think about artificial intelligence.For much of the past three years, all the attention has been on chips, models, and software. But the scarcest resource by far in the AI game is energy. And it's a zero-sum game.With the industry on a short collision course with the physical limits of the electrical grid, attention (and capital) is now shifting to energy that will power it all–or not.Utilities across North America and Europe are receiving requests for hundreds of megawatts from individual AI campuses. Many now face multi-year waits for interconnection studies, transmission upgrades, and transformer deliveries before a single server can be switched on.This harsh new reality is forcing new corporate strategies. Microsoft is helping restart a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island. Google has signed agreements tied to next-generation nuclear power. Amazon, Meta, Oracle, OpenAI, and others are pursuing long-term power arrangements, dedicated generation assets, and large-scale infrastructure investments to secure electricity for future expansion.But for an elite group of companies, the scramble for power started years ago.Long before AI factories became Wall Street's favorite investment theme, Bitzero (NASDAQ: AIBZ) was securing low-cost electricity, land, permits, and grid access across Norway, Finland, and North Dakota.Today, the company controls a development pipeline exceeding one gigawatt of potential capacity, positioning it among a relatively small group of operators that entered the current AI buildout with power already under control rather than still stuck in the queue waiting for it.Building Ahead of the AI CrowdYears before AI touched off a global race for data-center capacity, Bitzero was focused on the much simpler business of Bitcoin mining.They secured low-cost power first, then deployed computing infrastructure on top of it.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info