5 reasons why tech-led business investment is pulling the US economy forward in 2026

January 2026 — In 2025, the U.S. economy showed signs of strain across multiple sectors. Technology, however, helped offset policy-related pressures and stabilize growth during what proved to be a highly volatile year.

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“It’s a two-track economy,” Brookings economist Mark Muro told the New York Times. “This AI gold rush is generating all the excitement and papering over a drift in the rest of the economy.”

America’s AI boom drove unprecedented gains in 2025, reshaping the economic landscape and redefining business investment patterns across regions and industries.

Here are five reasons tech is pulling the U.S. economy forward — from AI’s outsized contributions to GDP growth and the stabilizing role of data centers to massive capital expenditures, job creation, and spillover effects across industries.

1. AI investments driving GDP growth

According to Harvard economist Jason Furman, AI investments accounted for 92% of U.S. GDP growth in the first half of 2025. Excluding these investments, GDP growth would have totaled just 0.1% on an annualized basis — a near standstill.

“Right now, AI is the biggest driver of demand. The data center industry is growing at a pace like never before… and that momentum is only going to continue,” said Regis Etzel, president of Etzel Engineer and Build Inc., in an interview with Invest:.

As of August 2025, the dollar value contributed to GDP growth by AI data-center infrastructure also surpassed U.S. consumer spending for the first time ever, according to Renaissance Macro Research. Given that U.S. consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the U.S. economy, the shift underscores the nation’s growing reliance on technology-led business investment.

2. Data center expansion

The role of data centers in supporting economic stability cannot be overstated. Furman noted that the rapid expansion of data center infrastructure has shifted the balance of economic contributions across the U.S. economy, positioning these facilities as anchors for regional growth.

In Nevada, for example, weak international tourism disrupted hiring, while a surge in data center construction provided economic relief. In Washington, D.C., AI investment helped buffer the regional economy amid federal job cuts and a historic government shutdown.

In Gallatin, Tennessee, the opening of a Meta hyperscale data center revitalized the local economy through a $1.5 billion investment that created hundreds of jobs. “It’s a massive project, and its presence is significant for Gallatin,” Rosemary Bates, executive director of the Gallatin Economic Development Agency, told Invest:.

Nationally, data center-related spending added roughly 100 basis points to U.S. real GDP growth, according to Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

3. Massive capital expenditures

In 2025, major tech companies and hyperscalers including Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Nvidia invested billions of dollars in data centers and related infrastructure.

“Seven companies are pulling more than 400 others forward,” Campbell Harvey, a professor of finance at Duke University, told Al Jazeera.

According to Shalett, capital expenditure on data center infrastructure approached $400 billion annually — a fourfold increase.

“The speed of growth and size of the investment are skewing its aggregate economic impact, with the top 10 spenders accounting for nearly a third of all spending,” she wrote to Fortune.

This surge reflects a broader shift in how large-scale business investment is reshaping the economy, with tech giants exerting outsized influence over capital flows, innovation, and regional development.

4. Job creation

At a time of reduced hiring and slowing wage growth across many industries, data center expansion has generated thousands of high-skill, high-wage jobs. These projects have helped revitalize regions previously facing economic stagnation.

The influx of tech employment has supported local consumer spending, strengthened labor markets and stimulated growth in adjacent sectors, reinforcing the broader economic impact of technology investment.

5. Corporate gains

Technology-driven efficiency is reshaping industries across the U.S. economy. In construction, data center development was “the only real driver of nonresidential construction spending growth in America,” according to Anirban Basu, chief economist at Associated Builders and Contractors.

As AI adoption accelerates, businesses are streamlining operations and delivering faster, more personalized services. Data centers enable this transformation, positioning tech spending as a durable driver of productivity and corporate performance.

What this means for 2026

Technology — anchored by AI and data center investment — played a decisive role in stabilizing the U.S. economy in 2025, and its influence is expected to grow in the year ahead.

Still, analysts caution that some AI-driven gains may prove unsustainable as the economy becomes increasingly reliant on the sector. Even so, with AI investment driving GDP growth, data center expansion supporting regional stability and capital expenditures fueling job creation, tech-led business investment is poised to remain a central force shaping the U.S. economy in 2026.

Want more? Read the Invest: reports.