Investors weigh the prospect of an AI slowdown on the U.S. buildout

The data center boom in the U.S. has largely been tied to the growth prospects of two companies — Anthropic and OpenAI — and the seemingly unending demand for their models and services. Now Wall Street is weighing what a potential slowdown in model development could mean across the industry.

Oracle has undergone a huge transformation over the past 18 months to capitalize on the artificial intelligence opportunity, laying off employees in slower-growth areas while pouring billions of dollars into compute and data centers.

Industrial heavyweights like GE Vernova , Caterpillar and Vertiv have invested heavily in providing the energy equipment essential to powering AI servers, while neoclouds such as Nebius and CoreWeave have become central players in supplying hyperscalers with compute and access to AI infrastructure.