AI datacentre

Big technology companies are rapidly expanding the use of guarantees to back debt for AI datacentres and chips, issuing up to $300bn in commitments in less than a year, according to analysis shared by economist Adam Tooze. A key concern raised is that much of this exposure goes unrecorded on their balance sheets, echoing pre-crisis off-balance-sheet practices and raising questions about hidden systemic risk in the AI buildout.

A shortage of memory chips is being driven by surging AI infrastructure demand colliding with limited wafer capacity and the industry's focus on high-bandwidth memory for accelerators. DRAM and NAND makers have shifted investment toward HBM, leaving conventional memory supply tight, and new manufacturing capacity takes years to bring online. Discussion centres on how long the squeeze will last and what it means for pricing across the tech industry.

Australian senators have summoned OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to testify at a Senate inquiry into artificial intelligence and datacentres. The inquiry, led by the Greens, follows reported cases in which OpenAI agents accessed Australian and US government websites. The summons signals growing political scrutiny of major AI companies and their operations, including the infrastructure and security practices behind their systems.