Data center industry outlook for 2026: power, funding, AI

DataBank presents an analysis and outlook for the data center industry in 2026.

• Main point: DataBank forecasts sustained enterprise colocation demand in 2026, citing a record number of multi-megawatt colocation deals in 2025 driven largely by enterprise CPU/traditional compute deployments rather than wholesale AI campuses; enterprise customers prioritize reliability, flexibility, and proven operational expertise.
• Background and specifics: Financing and power are key constraints: OpenAI, Oracle, and CoreWeave have collectively issued over $100 billion in debt, OpenAI reportedly needs $207 billion of equity before profit, and the industry leased over 15 gigawatts in 2025 with most capacity scheduled to come online in late 2026–2027; utilities and capital markets are tightening (Oracle debt/equity issuance, NVIDIA investment in CoreWeave noted).