Current AI services provide only $1.8T of the yearly income needed to support the global expansion of computing hubs. A report from Bain & Co. finds that the industry must actually generate $6T in annual revenue by 2031 to justify capital expenditures on data centers, leaving a $4.2T shortfall based on today's enterprise and consumer offerings.

This target is 3 times the $2T annual revenue requirement Bain established a year ago for 2030, which at that time included a forecasted $800B deficit. The firm expects nascent markets to bridge the remaining gap, specifically citing robotics, autonomous machines, drug discovery, mental health, and energy generation.