Dylan PatelFounder and Chief Analyst, SemiAnalysis · The semiconductor-AI stack

"It's like a zombie apocalypse, but you don't know how many waves of zombies are coming."

9 Oct 2026 · 1 min

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Two speakers discuss AI infrastructure constraints shifting from compute to financing. They project $7 trillion in AI-related debt by 2029 and note global data-center capacity doubling yearly from 40 GW. The question: where does the capital come from when lending markets can't absorb the risk.

It's like a zombie apocalypse, but you don't know how many waves of zombies are coming, right? They've been moving from compute constraints to data center constraints, and now financing is a new constraint. There's going to be $7 trillion of debt outstanding by 2029.
4-year-old H100s going into next year are going to be selling for likely higher prices than they are today if the trend continues.
When we first started this journey, global data center capacity was like 40 gigawatts, and now we're adding like 40 a year. Can you imagine that?
Where's, where's everybody finding the capital?
The lending market has to evolve to take risks outside of backstops. You know, one, one last joke. You know why? Why it's IRR? Because pirate equity.