Supply
Known Large AI Data Centers: Operational IT Power
Epoch’s structured database of known large AI data centers, reported as operational facility count and total IT power in the supporting data. The plotted line is known operational IT power; the 2026 YTD point is partial and all historical totals can change as Epoch discovers, backfills, revises, or reclassifies sites.
Known Large AI Data Centers: Operational IT Power
At the partial-year/YTD cutoff of 2026-08-26—not a full-year endpoint or forecast—Epoch’s evolving structured database contains 13,027 MW of IT power of known operational IT power. Changes may reflect discovery, backfill, and source-coverage improvements as well as newly operational capacity; this is not a construction-completions series.
Methodology
Source and fields: The updater downloads Epoch AI’s official data_centers.csv and data_center_timelines.csv exports. The 84-row core file supplies the unique Data center identity and address cross-check. The 481-row timeline file supplies structured Date, Buildings operational, IT power (MW), and Power (MW) fields. Construction status is narrative and is never parsed or used to infer a state.
Stock calculation and period treatment: For each year-end cutoff from 2023 through 2025, and then the separate 2026 YTD (through 2026-08-26) partial-year/YTD cutoff, select the latest timeline snapshot dated on or before the cutoff for each exact Epoch Data center identity. Count the identity when Buildings operational is greater than zero, then sum IT power (MW) for those operational identities. The 2026 point is not a full-year endpoint, annual estimate, or forecast. Each point is cumulative known operational stock, not annual additions.
Power definition and precision: The plotted value is total IT power capacity across qualifying facilities, covering GPU servers, network infrastructure, and storage. Exact source values are summed in memory for reconciliation, then published and saved only after rounding to the nearest whole MW; decimal source precision is not presented as aggregate precision. Epoch’s separate Power (MW) field estimates whole-facility demand including cooling and lighting and is not mixed into this series. The records documentation currently describes core Current power (MW) as a lookup to total-facility Power (MW), but every exported core value instead matches the latest timeline IT power (MW). The timeline field is authoritative here; the updater reconciles exact, unrounded sums and will stop for review if Epoch changes the relationship.
Deduplication: The core export must contain one row per unique Name, every timeline identity must match one core Name, and duplicate Data center + Date snapshots are rejected. At each cutoff only one latest snapshot per identity can contribute, so building phases and repeated observations within that identity are not summed. Multiple operational identities at the same nonblank street address also cause the updater to stop for manual review.
Coverage: Power is present for 67/67 operational identities at the latest cutoff (100%). If a later export marks an identity operational but omits IT power, the updater keeps it in the supporting count, omits it from the MW sum, and reports less than 100% power coverage—making that period’s MW value a lower bound within Epoch’s cohort. The current published periods all have 100% power coverage among counted operational identities.
Interpretation and database evolution: These are large AI facilities known and selected by Epoch, not a global census and not a construction-completions series. Epoch prioritizes high-compute sites, focuses mostly on facilities becoming operational in 2024 or later, and applies a lower international capacity threshold. Because the full history is recomputed from Epoch’s evolving database, measured growth can reflect newly operational capacity, improved discovery, historical backfill, expanded source coverage, or revisions to dates and estimates. The final point is explicitly 2026 YTD (through 2026-08-26), so it must not be compared rhetorically with complete years as though it covered all of 2026. Rows dated after the analysis cutoff are excluded without reading their narrative status; the source has no separate structured observed-versus-forecast flag.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly does the chart measure, and how are the periods defined?
Each point sums Epoch’s structured IT-power field for unique large AI data-center identities whose latest snapshot on or before the cutoff reports Buildings operational above zero. The complete-year observations use December 31 for 2023–2025. The final observation is 2026 YTD (through 2026-08-26), an explicitly partial-year/YTD stock point—not a full-year 2026 endpoint or forecast. The result is known operational stock at each cutoff, not power added during the period.
Why does operational IT power matter to AI?
IT power is a capacity indicator for the servers, networking, and storage used to run AI workloads. Known capacity can inform analysis of AI infrastructure and pressure on electricity supply, grids, and equipment, but it does not measure compute output or electricity actually consumed.
Does growth in the line equal newly constructed capacity?
No. This is known operational capacity in Epoch’s evolving database, not a construction-completions series. A change can reflect facilities newly marked operational, but also improved discovery, historical backfill, expanded source coverage, or revisions to dates and power estimates. Epoch’s selective cohort is not a global census, and the updater recomputes all historical points from each new export.
How are operational status, joins, and deduplication handled?
Only Epoch’s numeric Buildings operational field determines status; narrative construction text is never parsed or used for inference. Timeline Data center values join exactly to unique core Name values. One latest eligible snapshot per identity contributes at each cutoff. Duplicate identities, duplicate identity-date rows, unmatched identities, and multiple operational identities at one nonblank exact address trigger failure or manual review.
Why is known facility count supporting context rather than a second line?
The count shows how many unique Epoch identities support each rounded power total: 5 at Year-end 2023, 19 at Year-end 2024, 41 at Year-end 2025, 67 at 2026 YTD (through 2026-08-26). It is not plotted because the chart schema assigns one unit to all series, which would mislabel count as MW. Count is supporting context and is not a global AI data-center total.
How should I treat the 2026 point?
Treat it only as 2026 YTD (through 2026-08-26): a partial-year/YTD snapshot, not a December 31 endpoint, full-year estimate, or forecast. It uses each identity’s latest structured snapshot on or before 2026-08-26; the newest included source snapshot is 2026-08-24. Later-dated timeline rows are excluded, and narrative construction status is not used to classify them.
What are the coverage and precision limitations?
Power is present for 67/67 operational identities at the latest cutoff (100%), but complete fields within Epoch’s cohort do not imply complete market coverage. Undocumented or out-of-scope AI facilities can be absent. Exact source values are retained only for in-memory reconciliation; displayed and saved totals are rounded to whole MW.
Why use IT power instead of total facility power?
IT power is Epoch’s capacity measure for servers, networking, and storage. Epoch’s broader Power (MW) estimate includes cooling, lighting, and other overhead and is kept separate. Although the records documentation labels core Current power as total-facility power, all 84 exported core values match latest timeline IT power instead; the chart calculates from the unambiguous timeline field.