Data Center Supply Chain
AI data center buildout is the largest investment project in US history, exceeding railroads and Manhattan Project combined
“The development of data centers for AI is the largest investment project in American history, larger than the construction of railroads, freeways, and the Manhattan Project combined.”
Y Combinator is actively seeking startups addressing non-obvious bottlenecks in the AI data center supply chain, including 3-year waits for power transformers, sold-out switchgear and liquid cooling systems, and a single US plant producing transformer core steel. The scale framing—larger than railroads, freeways, and the Manhattan Project combined—signals how seriously YC views infrastructure as the binding constraint on AI progress. This represents a significant investment thesis shift toward physical infrastructure over pure software plays.