How AI Is Driving Global Investment Patterns

One emerging concern about the US economy in recent months has been its dependence on AI-related investment for growth. Capital pouring into data centers and chip plants in the first half of this year overtook consumption as a driver of GDP growth. AI projects are adding as much as a full percentage point or more to US economic output expected to expand by less than 2% this year.

It’s not just the US, though. In a report out Monday, analysts at the McKinsey Global Institute point to a worldwide boom in AI-driven cross-border investment. In the first five months of 2025 investments in data centers and semiconductor plants accounted for $270 billion of the roughly $600 billion in foreign direct investment announced in new projects, they write.