Microsoft plans to expand its data center capacity to 38 GW by 2032, tripling its current infrastructure of approximately 12 GW. This target includes both company-owned facilities and leased capacities from third-party operators, specifically those supporting artificial intelligence workloads.
The company has accelerated its construction pace significantly. In the 2026 fiscal year, Microsoft launched 88 data centers, with 31 of those opening in the final quarter alone. Recent quarterly additions have averaged 1 GW, and the company aims to maintain or slightly increase this rate to meet its long-term goal.
Among the new facilities are the Fairwater data centers, designed to house hundreds of thousands of GPUs for AI tasks. This rapid expansion is driving a sharp increase in capital expenditures, which rose from $55,7 billion in 2024 to $115,9 billion and $145,3 billion in subsequent years, with projections reaching $175 billion for 2027.
However, the massive infrastructure project faces regulatory hurdles in the United States. Local authorities in several states are requiring operators to fund upgrades to power grids and water supply systems. Some regions have already paused the approval process for new data center projects due to these infrastructure concerns.
