Data Centre IPO Stumbles Expose Cracks in the AI Borrowing Boom

The Financial Times reported that decisions by Australian data centre groups Firmus and AirTrunk have added to concerns about the AI borrowing frenzy, following what Reuters' Morning Bid column called a CoreWeave shock that briefly rattled markets. Investing.com's markets note described conditions as calm after the shock, but asked for how long. The pattern matters because much of the AI infrastructure build-out, including the data centres powering large language models, has been financed with debt rather than equity. When listing plans wobble or get pulled, it signals that investors are less willing to underwrite that debt at current valuations, which raises financing costs for the whole sector. What remains unresolved is whether these are isolated hiccups in a still-strong AI capital cycle, or an early warning that the financing model underpinning data centre expansion needs to change. Separately, Schneider Electric raised its 2026 targets again on booming data centre demand, a reminder that the underlying demand story has not reversed even as financing structures come under scrutiny.