Goodman Group's (ASX:GMG) shares jumped over 6% in recent trading on Monday, while those of Megaport (ASX:MP1) climbed nearly 5% after Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX:CBA) said in a report on Monday that its economists forecast that Australia's data center pipeline could exceed 6 gigawatts of capacity by 2030, potentially more than triple current levels as momentum for the artifiical intelligence sector is expected to continue through 2026.

The shares of Macquarie Technology Group (ASX:MAQ) and NEXTDC (ASX:NXT) were also trading up over 5%.

AI is having a real economic impact, with investment, profits, and productivity gains beginning to materialize at scale. CBA economists forecast that AI will drive a 0.8 percentage point to 1 percentage point increase in global productivity over time in advanced economies.

The crashes, such as those seen during the dot-com era or the global financial crisis, appear less likely to occur because leading AI firms generate strong cash flows and rely far less on debt than past technology cycles. Unlike earlier booms, AI investment is largely being funded from operating cash flows rather than cheap credit.

The capital expenditure of US hyperscalers, which are investing heavily in data centers, cloud infrastructure, and specialised chips, is on track to rise past $500 billion annually from 2026. Profitability is rising too, with margins improving across much of the sector.