Cloud expert warns Big Tech’s $220 billion 2025 AI data-centre buildout could outpace demand

Cloud and AI expert David Linthicum warns that Microsoft, Meta and Google have collectively committed more than $220 billion to AI data-centre infrastructure in 2025, even as enterprise adoption remains slow and services stay expensive. He argues current demand is nowhere near sufficient to justify that scale of capital spending. Linthicum also cites IBM CEO Arvind Krishna’s view that the economics “don’t add up”, estimating that industry ambitions could imply investments approaching $8 trillion while profits needed just to service the costs would require about $800 billion. The critique raises fresh questions about the durability of returns behind the buildout.