The Great AI Overbuild: From Tulsa’s Empty Highways to Britain’s Railway Mania to Data Centers in Space

In today’s Deep Cut, we look at the strange, repeating pattern of civilizations wildly overbuilding their infrastructure because they’re sure the future depends on it. Tulsa, Oklahoma once built a highway grid for millions who never arrived. Britain in the 1840s poured money into rail lines that didn’t need to exist. And now the world’s biggest tech companies are spending trillions on AI data centers—some even talking openly about building them in space.

I trace the logic behind this frenzy, from rising AI capex to the dream of limitless solar energy in orbit, and contrast it with the uncomfortable reality: much of today’s demand is artificially subsidized by the companies creating it. Along the way we revisit the Kardashev Scale, the pollution math of rocket launches, and the enduring human delusion that if we can build it, it should be built.

The Rip Current by Jacob Ward is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

History shows what happens when infrastructure outpaces actual need. Today’s AI buildout has all the ingredients for another chapter in that saga.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theripcurrent.substack.com/subscribe