Billionaire Data Center Builder Insists There’s No AI Bubble

On a bright August morning, Bob Clark, the founder of construction giant Clayco, stops by the new $850 million, 19-acre Obama Presidential Center, which he helped build, in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago.

After a quick checkup on the “Obamalisk,” as he fondly calls the complex’s central eight-story spire of granite, glass and concrete, he gives a speedy hello to former White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, who is now CEO of the Obama Foundation. Then he’s off, hopping in the back of a white Escalade and speeding down Lake Shore Drive to another of his projects, which could arguably be of even greater importance to Chicago and the world.

Situated on a 440-acre Lake Michigan site that used to be a U.S. Steel factory, “Quantum Shore” will be one of the lar­gest quantum computing campuses in the country when it opens at the end of 2027. Tenants include IBM and Palo Alto, Cali­fornia–based PsiQuantum, which plans to build a million-qubit quantum computer here. Such a machine would be unimaginably powerful, able to crack the usual types of encryption that keep most of the world’s computers (and bank accounts) secure. It could even someday speed up AI learning by dramatically reducing training time for certain complex deep-learning architectures.

It’s fitting that Clark, 67, is leading work on this next-gen project. He has been building data centers since the 1980s and completed 16 of them last year. He has another 77 in the works across 13 states. Data center construction is expected to account for 75% of Clayco’s nearly $12 billion in 2026 revenue, helping boost revenue by 43% over 2025. “I’ve been in the data center business for most of my career, but never would’ve imagined what’s happening today,” he says.

New York and Texas have issued data center moratoriums; Pennsylvania now has strict regulations. And despite his “what, me worry?” attitude, Clark is feeling the heat.