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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesNokia CEO Justin Hotard said AI data-center customers could build twice as fast if supply constraints disappeared. The figure is his conditional assessment—not a measured industry forecast: the reports provide no baseline, project sample, geography or calculation for a literal doubling. They identify memory chips and energy or power as constraints, but do not quantify how much either slows construction.
What did Nokia’s CEO say about data-center construction?
Quartz attributed the remark to Hotard in an interview on CNBC’s The Tech Download podcast. Quartz quoted him as saying: “I don’t think you can say in any manner we’re overbuilding today because reality is that if we could build 2x faster, our customers could build 2x faster, they probably would.” Quartz’s October 6, 2026 report presents this as a conditional argument: customers would build faster if they could obtain the resources they need.
DigitalToday published a separate wording of the remark: “If we could build 2 times faster and customers could build 2 times faster, we probably would have done so.” That is DigitalToday’s reported version, not a transcript independently verified against the interview. DigitalToday’s October 6, 2026 report likewise ties the possible acceleration to supply constraints.
What supply constraints are slowing AI data centers?
The reports name memory chips and energy or power as constrained resources. They do not say how many projects are delayed, how long delays last, or what share of construction time is attributable to either constraint. Nor do they establish that removing these limits alone would double the pace of completed data centers.
That distinction matters: a shortage can restrict a project without being the only factor governing its schedule. Hotard’s twofold figure is a statement about what customers might do under better supply conditions, not a quantified estimate of construction output.
Does this mean AI data centers are being overbuilt?
Hotard rejects the claim that the industry is already overbuilding, arguing that customers would expand faster if supply allowed. He has also said that deploying existing AI models could drive substantial progress even without another frontier model release for three years. Both are his views about demand and adoption, not independent evidence that current investment will earn a return or that demand will keep growing.
Quartz reports a projection of $10.3 trillion in spending on AI-related data centers, chips and supporting infrastructure from 2025 to 2032, attributing it to research presented at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity. That is a broad spending projection as reported by Quartz, not a measure of completed construction or proof that every planned investment will proceed.
Why Nokia has a stake in the debate
Quartz says Nokia supplies optical and IP networking equipment used to connect chip racks within data centers and link separate sites. That gives the company a relevant position in the infrastructure market, but also a commercial interest in continued data-center investment. Hotard’s outlook should therefore be read as a company executive’s perspective, not a neutral forecast.
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What survey evidence says about infrastructure limits
A 2025 survey by Gemic for Nokia asked 1,000 American executives about infrastructure constraints on AI. Its reported results describe executive perceptions across factors including compute, bandwidth, networks, cloud, data centers and energy; they do not measure construction speed or verify Hotard’s “2x” claim. Nokia-hosted survey report, Build first, lead forever, reports:
- 87% said infrastructure limitations somewhat constrained or entirely halted their company’s current AI efforts.
- 90% expected infrastructure limitations to constrain plans to scale AI.
- 54% cited unavailable reliable and sustainable energy as a limiting factor in scaling AI.
These are responses from a Nokia-commissioned survey, not counts of delayed data-center projects. They add dated context for why executives see infrastructure as an obstacle, but cannot establish how much faster construction would be if supply improved.
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What the “twice as fast” claim does—and does not—establish
- It establishes: Hotard believes customers would build faster if constrained supplies became available, and the reports specifically identify memory chips and power or energy.
- It does not establish: a measured industry-wide doubling, a construction timeline, the relative effect of each constraint, or proof that AI infrastructure demand will remain strong enough to justify all planned investment.
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