US is building more AI datacenters than its chip supply can fill
Jefferies and SynMax satellite data show US datacenter capacity rising from about 11 GW in 2025 to 16-18 GW in 2026, with a practical 2027 ceiling in the low 20s of gigawatts. Permitting, power access and advanced packaging shortages keep deployment far below the 80+ GW implied by announced 2028 pipelines.
- SynMax: capacity grows from ~11 GW in 2025 to 16-18 GW in 2026, 2027 ceiling in low 20s GW
- Land clearing for new projects has plateaued, well short of 80+ GW announced for 2028
- Existing advanced packaging supports only ~13 GW of accelerators, or ~17.5 GW of datacenter power
- Two new packaging projects in 2027 could add another ~6 GW of capacity
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