Infrastructure at an Inflection Point: AI, Power Demand and the Next Phase of Global Growth

Infrastructure is entering a more selective growth phase in which AI-driven demand makes access to physical capacity—not capital—the key investment constraint.

• At GCM Grosvenor’s annual Infrastructure Investor Day in London, Fred Pollock argued that durable demand, high entry barriers, funding shortfalls and constraints on power, connectivity and permitting continue to support infrastructure despite higher financing costs and geopolitical volatility.
• AI is driving a major capital-spending cycle across data centers, power generation, transmission and digital connectivity; Alphabet’s $4.75 billion acquisition of Intersect Power, announced in December 2025, marked the first direct purchase of a major renewable-energy developer by a hyperscaler.
• The acquisition would let Google develop and generate power alongside data centers instead of relying solely on power-purchase agreements and waiting for grid connections, signalling greater vertical integration in the AI infrastructure supply chain.
• Demand extends beyond digital assets to power generation, transmission upgrades, cooling systems and industrial supply chains, while infrastructure funding gaps persist across energy, transportation, grid modernization and digital systems.
• Elevated valuations and higher financing costs make broad market exposure less attractive, increasing the importance of differentiated sourcing, operational value creation, asset-level underwriting and disciplined capital deployment.

Takeaway: Investors should focus less on infrastructure exposure in aggregate and more on assets where compute demand intersects with available power, transmission, land, permitting and community acceptance; the long-term opportunity is constructive, but overbuilding and physical bottlenecks remain important risks.