A new report from Bain & Company warns that the global race to scale artificial intelligence (AI) will demand unprecedented levels of financial and infrastructural investment. The 2025 Global Technology Report estimates that by 2030, the world will need $2 trillion in new annual revenue to keep up with AI demand—including data centers, power generation, and supply chain expansion.
A Looming $800 Billion Gap
Even after accounting for expected cost savings and productivity gains from AI, Bain projects an $800 billion annual shortfall. The gap underscores the pressure rapid AI adoption could place on global resources, as businesses, governments, and investors scramble to mobilize capital at record scale.
Key Challenges in Scaling AI
Bain’s analysis identifies three primary obstacles to sustainable AI growth:
- Power Supply: AI workloads consume massive energy resources, and grid capacity in many regions is insufficient.
- Supply Chains: Bottlenecks in semiconductors, cooling systems, and hardware infrastructure threaten to slow adoption.
- Regulation: Policymakers face the challenge of balancing innovation with oversight of AI ethics, sustainability, and cross-border data flows.
AI as Essential Infrastructure
“AI is on track to become as essential to global infrastructure as electricity or the internet,” the report notes, “but the economics of scaling remain daunting.”
Investment and Innovation Needed
To meet demand, analysts suggest a mix of public-private investment, new energy strategies, and more efficient AI architectures. Without these measures, global AI growth risks stalling—or deepening inequality between regions that can finance expansion and those that cannot.
The Road Ahead
Bain concludes that while AI promises trillions in productivity gains, the true challenge lies in building and financing the systems to sustain it. As the report emphasizes, infrastructure—not algorithms—may be the deciding factor in AI’s future trajectory.
