WASHINGTON, July 8 — The artificial intelligence boom is reshaping the American landscape, but not always in the ways tech executives describe at industry conferences. Across the country, vast data center construction sites have become magnets for a different kind of attention: organized theft rings targeting copper wiring, high-end graphics processing units, and specialized cooling equipment. The scale of the buildout is staggering.
Global spending on AI data centers is projected to reach $200 billion by 2025, according to the research firm Gartner. Microsoft alone plans to invest $50 billion in data center infrastructure by that same year.
Major projects are underway in Virginia, Arizona, Oregon, and Ohio. These are not small server rooms tucked into office basements. They are sprawling, remote campuses, often staffed by a skeleton crew of security guards at night.
That combination — high value, low visibility, and minimal oversight — has created a vulnerability that thieves are exploiting. The materials inside these construction sites command premium prices on black markets.
Copper has long been a target for scrap-metal thieves. But the newer prizes are the very components that make AI work: GPUs that can cost tens of thousands of dollars each, and the sophisticated liquid-cooling systems needed to keep them from overheating.
Supply chains under strain
The thefts are not just a problem for insurance adjusters. They are compounding existing supply chain pressures at a moment when demand for these components already outstrips supply. Replacement materials are hard to come by, and the delays cascade.
The Uptime Institute, a respected industry advisory organization, reports that data center construction timelines have increased by 20 percent due to theft and material shortages. For the companies building these facilities, that means longer waits before they can bring new computing capacity online.
For the broader AI industry, it means slower deployment of the infrastructure that powers everything from large language models to autonomous vehicle development. The bottlenecks are physical, not just computational. The industry is now pressing for solutions.
Data center operators and their trade groups are lobbying for better security standards and, crucially, for federal coordination to protect what they describe as critical AI infrastructure. The argument is straightforward: if the United States wants to maintain its lead in artificial intelligence, it cannot afford to have the physical foundations of that technology picked apart by thieves while the foundations are still being poured.
A problem without easy fixes
There is no single solution to the theft problem. Construction sites are inherently porous environments. Trucks come and go.
Workers move in and out. Materials sit in staging areas for days or weeks.
Installing full perimeter security at every site is expensive, and even then, determined thieves find ways around it. The high value of the materials creates a powerful incentive. A single stolen GPU can fetch thousands of dollars.
A truckload of copper wiring represents a significant payday. And the remote locations of many data centers — chosen for cheap land, available power, and tax incentives — make them harder to police.
Some companies have begun experimenting with GPS tracking on high-value components, better inventory controls, and more rigorous vetting of subcontractors. But the industry’s push for federal coordination suggests that the problem has outgrown what individual companies can solve on their own.
Looking ahead
The AI boom shows no signs of slowing. The demand for computing power continues to grow, and the construction of new data centers will likely accelerate. That means the theft problem is not going away.
If anything, it may get worse as more sites come online and the competition for scarce materials intensifies. What remains to be seen is whether the industry and the federal government can move quickly enough to address the vulnerabilities.
The lobbying for better security standards and federal coordination is a sign that the industry recognizes the stakes. But recognition and action are two different things. For now, the data center construction sites across Virginia, Arizona, Oregon, and Ohio remain what they have always been: places where the future of AI is being built, and where someone is always watching for an opportunity to take a piece of it.
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