Air cargo, for one, has been buoyed by this traffic, which has taken over from e-commerce as the chief growth engine. In addition to work on data centres, their immense power demand is keeping logistics providers on their toes. The White House has suggested that the large AI players should build their own power supplies. Mr Watson doubts that public opposition to data centres or a slump in AI build-out would quench the hunger for electricity, nor would it derail AI. A slowdown in data centre deployment could spell relief for industries that have struggled to get hold of memory chips, which the AI sector has gobbled up with a ferocious appetite.