- DAMAC founder Hussain Sajwani to invest $20 billion in US data center infrastructure
- Trump and Sajwani have indicated this sum could more than double
- Investment will “keep America on the cutting edge of technology and artificial intelligence”
US president-elect Donald Trump has confirmed plans to invest $20 billion into US data center infrastructure.
Rather than coming from the government, the cash will be provided by Emirati billionaire and founder of property development company DAMAC Hussain Sajwani, Trump revealed in a press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
The first phase of the investment is set to target Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas, however Trump and Sajwani didn’t rule out future investments.
US data center funding
Addressing the press on stage, Trump said the $20 billion investment would become available “over a very short period of time.” He also said DAMAC has indicated a willingness to “double or even somewhat more than double the amount of money” as a mark of the company’s confidence in the US.
No detailed timeline or further specifics have been shared yet, but we know that the data centers will primarily be designed to support AI and cloud technologies.
Trump added the investment would “keep America on the cutting edge of technology and artificial intelligence,” a notable statement given the country’s ongoing battle with China when it comes to artificial intelligence and the powerful chips that the technology requires.
Speaking on stage, Sajwani confirmed Trump’s comments that DAMAC would be prepared to invest more than $20 billion if market opportunities are satisfactory.
However, the news doesn’t come without its downsides – data centers are widely criticized for their high energy consumption and usage of other natural resources like water for cooling. In its last environmental report, Google noted a 48% rise in data center emissions, blaming the rapid expansion of AI for the negative impacts.
In his speech, Trump declared companies investing over $1 billion into the US would benefit from expedited environmental reviews, helping them to establish more quickly.
More broadly, hyperscalers have also committed to spending big in the industry. In the past month, AWS has committed to spending $21 billion to support its infrastructure in two US states, with the promise of generating more jobs.