Greenfield site development will lead to changes in data centre design in 2026

Among its postulation of 2026 predictions successful the information centre space, GlobalData is anticipating that rack densities volition proceed to turn arsenic AI workloads determination into the endeavor space. Outside the enterprise, ace dense systems chiefly targeted astatine hyperscale customers and neoclouds volition deed the marketplace successful 2026.

AMD’s 72-GPU Helios rack, moving connected the Instinct MI400 architecture, and Nvidia’s NVL72 rack systems based connected the Blackwell Ultra chips, volition disrupt the landscape, introducing important show improvements.

2026 volition witnesser beardown maturation successful inference-optimised chips, alongside traditional, much expensive, GPUs for instauration models. Although GPUs volition proceed to assertion the largest stock of the wide market, the increasing absorption connected ratio volition besides thrust request for ASIC-based accelerators. Unlike general-purpose processors, ASIC [application-specific integrated circuits] chips are custom-built to efficiently execute a peculiar usage case.

Hyperscalers volition deploy much customized accelerators to optimise workload-specific performance. Small players specified arsenic Cerebras, d-Matrix, Axelera AI, and Groq volition person to stock the abstraction with different caller entrants into the fray. Microprocessor proviso chains volition proceed to person a beardown geopolitical slant, with export controls and analyzable alliances.

GlobalData estimates determination is presently a planetary pipeline of large-scale information centre projects with a full worth of $2.4tn. 32% of those projects are successful the pre-execution and execution stages, and 68% successful the aboriginal stages of pre-planning and planning. This means that astir projects are yet to beryllium developed. The manufacture volition proceed to physique up of projected request to unafraid capacity, raising concerns astir overbuilding.

The marketplace is changing dramatically. Today’s AI-optimised systems mean powerfulness and cooling requirements alteration drastically from 1 procreation of GPUs to the next. This leads to continuous upgrades successful existing brownfield sites and the necessity to physique retired caller greenfield sites that are custom-made to location the latest systems that conscionable AI requirements.

In 2026, AI-driven request and super-dense systems volition signifier caller designs whose occurrence volition beryllium connected securing progressively scarce power. By the extremity of 2026, astatine slightest 1 of respective mega projects presently successful the improvement signifier volition person crossed the 1 GW (Gigawatt) capableness threshold.