DeepSeek technology innovation can't halt the AI infrastructure boom: BofA forecasts a 34% surge in investment in hyperscale data centers in 2025.
1min read Despite the recent disruption to the US AI stocks caused by DeepSeek's R1 model, bank of america Securities still expects the capital expenditure of hyperscale data center operators to grow 34% YoY to $257bn in 2025.Analysts led by Justin Post at Bank of America said in a Monday investor note: "In late January, DeepSeek reported that its R1 model development took only two months and cost less than $6mn, much lower than its US peers' investment (investors are still debating the true cost of this distilled model)."However, Post added: "We expect cloud companies to significantly increase their capital expenditure in 2025, reflecting strong AI demand and existing capacity constraints. In addition, management expects cost reductions to release incremental demand."For instance, Amazon's Andy Jassy stated that the demand for AI compute power is "unquenchable" due to chip supply constraints that limit the construction of data centers.Post noted: "2025 may not be the 'peak year' for generative AI investment, as 'mart companies' continue to invest in the most impactful generative AI plans, while 'dull companies' may be 'disappointed' by the iterative nature of building generative AI models."According to recent reports, meta is in talks with Apollo Global to lead a $35bn financing round to build data center infrastructure in the US. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is transforming the social media giant into a leader in the AI field, planning to invest $60bn to $65bn in AI infrastructure, which was announced in January through a Facebook post.Meanwhile, Microsoft said it would invest $80bn in AI data centers this year, while amazon has committed $100bn and Google $75bn.