The global artificial intelligence market is on track to top $6 trillion by 2030, up from about $1.1 trillion this year, according to Bain & Company's latest technology report. The consultancy expects AI-related capital spending to grow at a compound annual rate of nearly 40 percent.

Capital expenditure on AI data centres alone is projected to rise from around $800 billion in 2026 to $2.7 trillion by 2030. AI software, hardware and semiconductors are expected to make up roughly $1.5 trillion of the market this year, up from just $185 billion in 2018, as the technology moves from pilots to production.

The report also warns of growing constraints. AI compute capacity is set to triple, while power demand from data centres is expected to double over five years. Utility connection backlogs are already delaying projects, and Bain found that about 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies now tie their AI investments to clear return-on-investment measures.

Anthropic executive Sanjaya Puran said demand keeps surprising to the upside: "AI is here to stay, and this is the floor, not the ceiling." Software agents that can act on users' behalf are emerging as the next big growth driver.