According to the Wall Street Journal, artificial intelligence infrastructure is becoming the largest economic bet in American history, surpassing investments in railroads, highways, and internet infrastructure. The report states that spending on data centers has exceeded the combined expenditures on canals, railroads, and power grids. While this construction is creating jobs and wealth, it is also driving up inflation. Economist Stijn van Nieuwerburgh, in estimates published by the Brookings Institution, projects that total investment in data centers and related AI infrastructure from 2025 to 2032 will reach $10.3 trillion, averaging about 3.6% of GDP annually. The report notes that the U.S. economy has never been so reliant on the construction of a single industry. Goldman Sachs estimates that AI investment in the U.S. will reach 1.9% of GDP by 2026; the last time a single new industry accounted for a larger share of the economy was during the railroad boom in the late 19th century. The estimates listed annual infrastructure spending as a percentage of GDP: canals from 1836 to 1841 at 0.66%, railroads from 1870 to 1890 at 2.24%, electrification from 1905 to 1925 at 0.5%, highways from 1956 to 1973 at 1.13%, and telecommunications and fiber optics from 1996 to 2003 at 1.1%, with AI projected from 2025 to 2032 at 3.63%. The report also mentions that this investment is transforming various sectors of the economy, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and producing new billionaires, while also posing significant risks as a large portion of it is supported by debt.