The Explosion of AI Compute Demand
The growing role of AI in our daily lives has brought with it a need for massive computational power. But with the new surge in AI processing, supply and capacity are now a rapidly dwindling resource for hosting operations. What used to be considered more than ample compute capacity is now a scarce resource for the burgeoning AI ecosystem. Hosting AI requires vastly more infrastructure to support itself, like capacity and specialized infrastructure that are in short supply. Paired with a widening gap between hyper-investors and the middle-market, the specialized nature of AI hosting faces a bevy of new challenges. This article explores the massive gap between what kind of resources are required to host AI, what’s available to the middle market, and what Prestige Intelligence is doing to make those resources more readily available.
Hyperscale and Colocation: AI Compute’s Unprecedented Scale
One of the issues in AI hosting’s issues is how fast it reached the massive scale it is at now, and how much more it will grow in the future. Global demand for data center capacity is expected to almost triple by 2030, with nearly 70 percent of that driven by AI workloads. The AI compute race could drive up to $7 trillion in data center investment and $5.2 trillion in capital for AI-ready data centers by 2030. Traditional infrastructure planning methods cannot keep pace with this level of demand and the investment required. And despite efficiency gains, software innovations made to keep up with the computing cost just further increases the demand.
Hyperscale data centers meet these computational needs by offering scalability and high-speed processing for large volumes of data, such as cloud computing, streaming services, and AI hosting. Investors such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Meta, and Oracle Cloud have the benefit of vertically integrating their AI workloads. They design hardware, operate power infrastructure, manage cooling, and control their own software stack. Most aspects of their AI hosting operations involve tens or hundreds of thousands of servers per site. These companies boast enough resources to build and run multi-gigawatt data center campuses and absorb massive capital costs to stay ahead of AI hosting’s high requirements.
However, for those without the proprietary resources like the Microsoft and Amazon heavy hitters, there is a tight bottleneck on data center supply. New capacity is often leased before construction of the building even finishes. Data center vacancy hit a record low of 1.6 % in 2025. Paired with high pricing for larger deployments in the 10MW+ range caused by the limited space and high competition, many middle-market operation simply can’t get into the same building as hyperscalers.
Hybrid models that combine the resources of hyperscale with the budgetary concerns of middle-market investors, such as colocation are a viable solution. By sharing rented data center space, utilities, and other essential resources with other businesses, colocation facilities help investors save on investment. Datacenter colocation rates are much lower than hyperscale, ranging from 37 to even 57 percent lower costs. The shared infrastructure can also provide backup systems, management offerings, and regulatory compliance. Colocation typically offers an accessible and economical solution, but it can lack the depth and breadth of infrastructure that is needed for hyperscale operations.
The current market for those looking to host AI resources shows tight infrastructure capacity and rising costs, forcing middle-market clients into tough choices between expensive hyperscale and traditional colocation.
Prestige Intelligence’s Hosting & Co-Location Strategy
Prestige Intelligence’s approach to AI hosting is by addressing the demands of a wide range of operations at once.
- Purpose-Built Facilities (Tier 1–3, 1–40 MW)
- Our wide range of tier offerings addresses capacity and density challenges that middle clients struggle to provision on their own, while simultaneously providing the option for scalable operations.
- Resilient Infrastructure
- Prestige keeps sustainability in mind by repurposing energy infrastructure, optimizing our colocation offerings for high-power compute growth. Strong connectivity and utilities support the needs of dense AI deployments.
- Reliable Support Systems
- UPS, generators, and virtual cloud environments give clients enterprise-grade reliability without hyperscale pricing. Prestige’s hardware offers advanced cooling designs such as liquid, chilled, or ambient, which reduces the thermal bottlenecks that can hamper AI rack density and power usage. And with 24/7 security and operational support, Prestige relieves internal teams from heavy infrastructure overhead.
Bridging the Gap
AI compute demand is exploding at a scale that outpaces traditional data center growth, squeezing middle-market clients between hyperscalers and DIY buildouts. Colocation data centers anchored in purpose-built, AI-optimized infrastructure are a needed middle ground for many. Prestige Intelligence is positioned to fill that gap with scalable, supportive, and cost-competitive solutions. Our offerings reflect the future of AI hosting where compute demand, power infrastructure, and strategic economics converge.