[Digital Today reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] A boom in investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is emerging as a new growth driver for the U.S. economy, but an analysis says it is paradoxically weighing on bitcoin. Concerns are growing that large-scale AI capital spending could stoke inflation and delay the timing of U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts.

According to blockchain media outlet CryptoSlate on June 6 (local time), Goldman Sachs forecast that AI-related capital spending in 2026 would approach $800 billion. Market research firm TrendForce also estimated that this year’s investment by nine major global cloud companies would be around $830 billion.

The key is that AI investment is being read not just as a strong tech cycle but as demand that stokes inflation. The money flows not only into servers, semiconductors and memory, but also into land, steel, transformers, copper wiring, power facilities, cooling infrastructure and specialised construction workers. Goldman Sachs analysed that, as a result, AI investment would lift the growth rate of U.S. corporate equipment investment to 7.8 percent this year and would alone contribute 3.3 percentage points of the increase in investment.

The problem is that demand is concentrating in areas with clear supply constraints. Power is cited in particular as the biggest bottleneck. Fed Governor Lisa Cook said in a recent speech that electricity and water bills rose about 5 percent each over the past year, and that prices for semiconductors, advanced equipment and software also showed an upward trend. Wages for specialised construction workers were also found to be under upward pressure.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell also mentioned that the data centre construction boom is pushing up prices for various goods and services. That means rising demand from expanding AI infrastructure is stoking inflation in the short term. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook also warned in a speech in May that another price shock could be added due to higher investment demand driven by AI.

This situation clashes head-on with expectations in the bitcoin market. This year, the crypto market has expected liquidity to expand and risk appetite to recover on the back of easing inflation and rate cuts. But if the AI investment boom leads to rising inflation pressure, the Fed will find it difficult to cut its policy rate easily.

Markets are also reflecting this. Futures and prediction markets see the probability of rates being held at more than 90 percent at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on June 16-17.

Bitcoin prices are also under pressure. Bitcoin recently fell below $62,000, undergoing a steep correction from last year’s peak. Its decline over the past week exceeded 13 percent.

Fund flows are also worsening. Bitcoin spot ETFs saw outflows of about $3.45 billion for 11 straight trading sessions. That was recorded as the longest redemption streak since the ETFs were launched in 2024. Markets see a large part of that money as having moved into AI- and semiconductor-related stocks.

Even within the Fed, views are split over the effects of AI investment. Former Fed governor Kevin Warsh assessed that AI could boost productivity over the long term and bring a disinflationary effect. Fed Governor Michael Barr, on the other hand, drew a line, saying expanded AI investment is not a factor that justifies rate cuts right now.

Ultimately, the market’s focus is shifting from growth in the AI industry itself to how long the infrastructure build-out costs and inflation pressure generated in the process will persist. An analysis says the AI investment boom is a positive for tech stocks, but is increasingly likely to act as a variable that delays the liquidity expansion timing that bitcoin had been counting on.