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We can’t afford to miss the AI infrastructure land rush

A trillion-dollar AI buildout is reshaping global power, and Australia must decide whether to host it or depend on it.

Ian Langford Professor Ian Langford is a former ADF senior officer and is executive director of Security & Defence PLuS
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A $920 billion AI infrastructure race is under way, and Australia risks being sidelined unless it competes seriously for hyperscale investment, argues Professor Ian Langford. Shutterstock.

Four US technology companies are preparing to spend more in a single year than the annual output of many nations.

Alphabet, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft have collectively flagged around USD650 billion ($920 billion) in capital expenditure for 2026, directed overwhelmingly towards artificial intelligence infrastructure and hyperscale data centres.

Amazon alone plans to invest up to USD200 billion, with Alphabet committing up to USD185 billion. These figures would have seemed implausible only a few years ago.

Today, they mark the opening phase of a global infrastructure race that will shape the digital order for decades. That capital is looking for a home. The question for Australia is whether any meaningful share of it will land here, and whether we are prepared to compete seriously for it. This is a strategic question as well as an industrial one.

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