The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy is increasingly becoming a battle for data centre capacity. A recent Jefferies analysis of the top 15 data centre operators and owners in North America shows that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has established a commanding lead in the region’s digital infrastructure landscape.
According to the data, AWS controls 10.6 GW of data centre power capacity, making it the largest operator by a significant margin. Microsoft follows with 5.5 GW, while Google ranks third with 5.2 GW. Facebook (Meta) occupies the fourth position with 4.8 GW of capacity.
Together, the four technology giants account for more than 26 GW of data centre capacity, reflecting the enormous infrastructure investments being made to support cloud computing and artificial intelligence workloads.
Beyond the hyperscalers, traditional data centre operators continue to play a critical role. Digital Realty and QTS Data Centers each operate 2.5 GW of capacity, making them the largest independent data centre providers in the region. CyrusOne, Vantage Data Centers and Switch Data Centers each have around 1.2 GW of capacity.
The rise of AI is also creating new entrants. Elon Musk’s Xai already controls around 0.9 GW of capacity, highlighting the growing importance of specialised AI infrastructure. Other notable operators include Aligned Data Centers (0.9 GW), Equinix (0.7 GW), NTT Global Data Centers (0.6 GW), CloudHQ (0.6 GW) and Centersquare (0.6 GW).
The rankings underscore a broader trend shaping the global technology industry. As demand for AI training and inference accelerates, companies are investing billions of dollars to secure computing power, energy access and data centre capacity. Industry experts believe that the shortage of data centre infrastructure could become one of the biggest bottlenecks for AI growth over the next decade.
For investors and businesses alike, the message is clear: data centres are no longer just real estate assets. They have become the backbone of the digital economy and one of the most strategic infrastructure categories in the age of artificial intelligence.
