The United States is still the world's biggest AI landlord. Cushman & Wakefield counted 50.3 gigawatts of working data center capacity across the Americas1. That count covers the first half of 2026. The United States holds 94 percent of it.
A separate tracker reaches an even higher number. It focuses only on hyperscale data centers, the giant server farms a handful of companies run themselves4. Amazon, Microsoft and Google own most of them. By that count, America's share hits 55 percent.
The Gap in Gigawatts
Cushman & Wakefield tracks three regions. One is the Americas. The other two are Europe-Middle East-Africa and Asia-Pacific. Its newest counts put the Americas far ahead of both.
Europe, the Middle East and Africa combined held 12.1 gigawatts of working capacity2. Europe's figure covers the same half year. It marks a 36 percent rise over two years. Asia-Pacific held 13.8 gigawatts at the end of 20253.
The Americas Run 50.3 Gigawatts, Nearly Double Europe and Asia Together
Working data center capacity by region, gigawatts, Cushman & Wakefield's regional counts
Each bar is one region's working data center capacity in gigawatts; the Americas bar is colored because the United States supplies 94 percent of it.
Cushman & Wakefield counted Asia-Pacific's capacity at the end of 2025, eight months before the Americas and EMEA counts shown here, so Asia-Pacific's current total likely runs a little higher.
Sources: Cushman & Wakefield [1]; Cushman & Wakefield [2]; Cushman & Wakefield [3]. Chart by Kelly Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Americas | 50.3 GW |
| Asia-Pacific | 13.8 GW |
| Europe, Middle East and Africa | 12.1 GW |
Add those two regions together. Their sum still trails the Americas. America alone runs roughly 47 gigawatts. That beats both regions combined.
The gap stays wide.
Hyperscale's Widening Lead
A narrower slice of the market tells the same story. It counts only the data centers that big cloud and AI firms like Amazon, Microsoft and Google build and run for themselves. By that count, the U.S. share climbed from 52 to 55 percent in three years4. John Dinsdale, the firm's chief analyst, expects the climb to continue.
"Data center developers will find ways around power and public opinion obstacles, and booming demand will drive aggressive capacity growth," Dinsdale said5.
The U.S. Runs 55 Percent of the World's Hyperscale Data Centers
The United States' share of worldwide hyperscale operator capacity, Synergy Research Group, third quarter of 2025
Source: Synergy Research Group [4]. Chart by Kelly Dennis.
The numbers behind this chart
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| United States | 55% |
| Rest of the world | 45% |
| Whole | 100% |
A newer report from the same firm sizes up that growth. Total U.S. capacity should double within three years. Forty-five fresh gigawatts arrive along the way5. Hyperscale operators alone are set to double even faster, within two years.
Three Trackers, Three Different Things
Each tracker counts something different. Cushman & Wakefield counts working buildings already switched on. A rival firm tracks hyperscale operators only, wherever in the world they build. Each report's gigawatt ends up meaning something slightly different.
Planned pipelines show the gap holding for years yet, since the Americas alone has 285 gigawatts of capacity already planned1. Five times today's working total sits in that pipeline. Europe, the Gulf and Asia have each announced far less on their own.
This pattern repeats everywhere.
The Gulf Builds Its Own Stack
Gulf states are moving fast instead of closing the gap in slow steps. The United Arab Emirates is building Stargate UAE, a single Abu Dhabi campus spanning 19.2 square kilometers6. This campus runs nine times the size of Monaco.
Omar Al Olama, the UAE's minister of state for artificial intelligence, describes the campus as proof of ambition. It exists, he said, "to not just ensure that we're able to build international co-operation when it comes to AI infrastructure, but also to build something that no one has the audacity to dream of"6.
Saudi Arabia is building just as fast. Humain, the kingdom's state-backed AI company, leads that push. Its chief executive, Tareq Amin, wants 6.6 gigawatts running by 20367. Almost all of that comes from scratch.
Amin frames the buildout as more than a local project. "The Kingdom can host AI compute not only to meet domestic demand, but also as an export opportunity," Amin said.
Europe Bets on Rules Instead of Scale
Brussels is choosing control over raw size. The European Commission's tech sovereignty package came out in June. It aims at exactly that control8.
Henna Virkkunen leads the effort as the commission's executive vice president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy. "We want to make sure that our most critical sensitive data is stored in Europe," Virkkunen said8.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen framed the stakes the same day. "We cannot afford to depend on others for the technologies that keep our hospitals running, our energy grids stable and our services secure," she said8. Both leaders skipped a gigawatt target, the kind that would rival the Gulf's or the Americas' pipeline.
What to do
Treat every data center headline as a scope question first. Ask whether a number counts working buildings, hyperscale operators, or a pipeline that might slip. The three trackers in this piece rarely agree. Their gap is often the real story.
Watch where your own AI vendor actually runs its workloads. A contract signed with a U.S. company can still route through a Gulf or European region. Sovereignty rules or local capacity limits can force that choice.
By the numbers
- The Americas ran 50.3 gigawatts of data center capacity in early 2026, 94 percent of it American1.
- Europe, the Middle East and Africa held 12.1 gigawatts of capacity, up 36 percent in two years2.
- Asia-Pacific held 13.8 gigawatts of working capacity at the end of 2025, the last full count there3.
- Fifty-five percent of the world's working hyperscale capacity sat inside the U.S. last fall, up from 52 percent three years earlier4.
- Forty-five gigawatts of new U.S. capacity are expected as the country's footprint doubles within three years5.
- Stargate UAE, the Abu Dhabi campus Omar Al Olama says will cost more than $30 billion, is planned at 5 gigawatts6.
- Humain is targeting 6.6 gigawatts of Saudi AI data centers by 20367.
- Planners have already filed 285 gigawatts of capacity across the Americas, more than five times what is running today1.
What to watch
Watch how fast the Gulf's planned gigawatts actually switch on. Stargate UAE's first phase was due in the third quarter of 20266. A delay there would say more about the real pace of catching up than any new announcement does.
Cushman & Wakefield's next Asia-Pacific count is the second tell. Its last full read is already eight months old3. A jump past 20 gigawatts there would close a real piece of the gap this story measured.
Sources
- Cushman & Wakefield, "Americas Data Center Update," Cushman & Wakefield, Sept. 14, 2026, https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/insights/americas-data-center-update
- Cushman & Wakefield, "EMEA Data Centre Update," Cushman & Wakefield, Sept. 14, 2026, https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/insights/emea-data-centre-update
- Cushman & Wakefield, "Asia Pacific's Data Centre Development Pipeline Hits Record 19.4GW in 2025," Cushman & Wakefield, March 27, 2026, https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/singapore/news/2026/03/apac-data-centre-development-pipeline-hits-record-in-2025
- Synergy Research Group, "Hyperscale Spending Spree Is Driving Dramatic Growth in Data Center Capacity," Synergy Research Group, Dec. 19, 2025, https://www.srgresearch.com/articles/hyperscale-spending-spree-is-driving-dramatic-growth-in-data-center-capacity
- Synergy Research Group, "Synergy Reports that U.S. Data Center Capacity Will Continue to Balloon Despite Increasing Headwinds," Synergy Research Group, July 23, 2026, https://www.srgresearch.com/articles/synergy-reports-that-us-data-center-capacity-will-continue-to-balloon-despite-increasing-headwinds
- Alvin R Cabral, "Stargate UAE data centre to cost more than $30bn, AI minister says," The National, Jan. 26, 2026, https://www.thenationalnews.com/future/technology/2026/01/26/stargate-uae-data-centre-to-cost-more-than-30bn-ai-minister-says/
- Jesse Marks, "The U.S. Data Center Struggle and the Gulf Offer," Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, Sept. 23, 2026, https://agsi.org/analysis/the-u-s-data-center-struggle-and-the-gulf-offer/
- Kai Nicol-Schwarz, "Europe unveils tech sovereignty package amid growing concerns over reliance on U.S. tech," CNBC, June 3, 2026, https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/03/europe-tech-sovereignty-us-tech-reliance.html
