Goldman Sachs warns state moratoria could hit 45% of US data center capacity

Goldman Sachs warned that state-level moratoria on new data center construction could affect as much as 45% of projected US data center capacity, threatening to delay projects tied to AI infrastructure buildout. The bank said such restrictions could push back timelines for new facilities and shift investment toward sites that already hold permits. The warning matters because data center capacity underpins demand for computing hardware and, by extension, the power and digital infrastructure that crypto mining and AI operations rely on. Investors should watch state and local permitting decisions, particularly in major data center markets, for signs of which projects move forward and which face delays.