Quarterly report · 2026 Q3
US data-center construction spending rises 73% in a year
The AI buildout in the third quarter of 2026, in six findings. Each number comes from a dated release of this site’s data, named under its chart. The report was fixed on 27 October 2026, and its figures and words do not change.
PDF 2026-q3.csv Every report RSS
Embed
The frame credits U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Energy Information Administration, Taiwan FSC, via TWSE, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, LMArena and each vendor’s own deprecation page and links back to its page. Preview it.
Cite
- 01 +73% US data-center construction spending rises 73% in a year
- 02 +6.5% US home power prices rise 6.5% in a year
- 03 +51% TSMC’s quarterly sales rise 51% in a year
- 04 +152,000 US employers add 152,000 jobs in the quarter
- 05 91 of 92 Anthropic leads the text arena on 91 of 92 days
- 06 72 AI platforms retire 72 model versions in the quarter
01 · Buildout
US data-center construction spending rises 73% in a year
+73% August 2026 on a year earlier
Every value
| Month | USD millions, annual rate |
|---|---|
| 2026-08 | 84,950 |
| 2026-07 | 79,007 |
| 2026-06 | 72,695 |
| 2026-05 | 65,688 |
| 2026-04 | 61,859 |
| 2026-03 | 58,121 |
| 2026-02 | 57,361 |
| 2026-01 | 56,211 |
| 2025-12 | 55,461 |
| 2025-11 | 53,043 |
| 2025-10 | 54,260 |
| 2025-09 | 50,700 |
| 2025-08 | 49,052 |
| 2025-07 | 47,810 |
| 2025-06 | 46,850 |
| 2025-05 | 48,210 |
| 2025-04 | 52,818 |
| 2025-03 | 46,593 |
| 2025-02 | 46,409 |
| 2025-01 | 45,341 |
| 2024-12 | 44,703 |
| 2024-11 | 40,951 |
| 2024-10 | 40,048 |
| 2024-09 | 37,576 |
| 2024-08 | 36,668 |
| 2024-07 | 36,124 |
| 2024-06 | 35,304 |
| 2024-05 | 32,271 |
| 2024-04 | 28,069 |
| 2024-03 | 30,172 |
| 2024-02 | 28,319 |
| 2024-01 | 26,412 |
| 2023-12 | 24,238 |
| 2023-11 | 23,864 |
| 2023-10 | 23,720 |
| 2023-09 | 21,285 |
| 2023-08 | 20,498 |
| 2023-07 | 19,641 |
| 2023-06 | 18,735 |
| 2023-05 | 18,232 |
| 2023-04 | 17,943 |
| 2023-03 | 18,015 |
| 2023-02 | 17,920 |
| 2023-01 | 15,589 |
| 2022-12 | 14,244 |
| 2022-11 | 13,855 |
| 2022-10 | 12,816 |
| 2022-09 | 14,571 |
| 2022-08 | 13,142 |
| 2022-07 | 12,751 |
| 2022-06 | 12,190 |
| 2022-05 | 12,126 |
| 2022-04 | 12,160 |
| 2022-03 | 11,307 |
| 2022-02 | 10,564 |
| 2022-01 | 10,959 |
| 2021-12 | 11,324 |
| 2021-11 | 10,578 |
| 2021-10 | 9,686 |
| 2021-09 | 10,834 |
$85.0 billion in August 2026 (preliminary), against $49.1 billion in August 2025, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. August 2026 is the newest month in the quarter that the source has published. U.S. Census Bureau. Data as released here on 22 October 2026.
Read from series/2026-10-22.csv, sha256 490f258f0c4d ·
the whole history →
02 · Power
US home power prices rise 6.5% in a year
+6.5% July 2026 on a year earlier
Every value
| Month | US cents per kWh |
|---|---|
| 2026-07 | 17.99 |
| 2026-06 | 17.90 |
| 2026-05 | 17.82 |
| 2026-04 | 17.74 |
| 2026-03 | 17.66 |
| 2026-02 | 17.55 |
| 2026-01 | 17.45 |
| 2025-12 | 17.30 |
| 2025-11 | 17.22 |
| 2025-10 | 17.16 |
| 2025-09 | 17.09 |
| 2025-08 | 16.99 |
| 2025-07 | 16.89 |
| 2025-06 | 16.79 |
| 2025-05 | 16.69 |
| 2025-04 | 16.63 |
| 2025-03 | 16.58 |
| 2025-02 | 16.55 |
| 2025-01 | 16.53 |
| 2024-12 | 16.48 |
| 2024-11 | 16.43 |
| 2024-10 | 16.39 |
| 2024-09 | 16.34 |
| 2024-08 | 16.30 |
| 2024-07 | 16.22 |
| 2024-06 | 16.14 |
| 2024-05 | 16.11 |
| 2024-04 | 16.09 |
| 2024-03 | 16.04 |
| 2024-02 | 16.00 |
| 2024-01 | 15.99 |
| 2023-12 | 16.00 |
| 2023-11 | 15.93 |
| 2023-10 | 15.88 |
| 2023-09 | 15.85 |
| 2023-08 | 15.84 |
| 2023-07 | 15.83 |
| 2023-06 | 15.77 |
| 2023-05 | 15.70 |
| 2023-04 | 15.61 |
| 2023-03 | 15.51 |
| 2023-02 | 15.39 |
| 2023-01 | 15.21 |
| 2022-12 | 15.04 |
| 2022-11 | 14.94 |
| 2022-10 | 14.84 |
| 2022-09 | 14.71 |
| 2022-08 | 14.53 |
| 2022-07 | 14.33 |
| 2022-06 | 14.17 |
| 2022-05 | 14.04 |
| 2022-04 | 13.96 |
| 2022-03 | 13.91 |
| 2022-02 | 13.82 |
| 2022-01 | 13.75 |
| 2021-12 | 13.66 |
| 2021-11 | 13.58 |
| 2021-10 | 13.52 |
| 2021-09 | 13.50 |
| 2021-08 | 13.44 |
17.99¢ per kWh in July 2026, against 16.89¢ per kWh in July 2025, the average price over twelve months. July 2026 is the newest month in the quarter that the source has published. U.S. Energy Information Administration. Data as released here on 22 October 2026.
Read from series/2026-10-22.csv, sha256 490f258f0c4d ·
the whole history →
03 · Chips
TSMC’s quarterly sales rise 51% in a year
+51% 2026 Q3 on a year earlier
Every value
| Month | Sales, NT$ thousands | A year earlier | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07 | 467,580,548 | 323,165,707 | +45% |
| 2026-08 | 514,805,337 | 335,771,691 | +53% |
| 2026-09 | 511,857,399 | 330,980,920 | +55% |
TSMC reported NT$1.49 trillion of sales for July to September 2026, against NT$0.99 trillion a year earlier, in its monthly filings to Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission. Data as released here on 16 October 2026.
Read from machine/sales/2026-10-16.csv, sha256 29afa0a0efe7 ·
the whole history →
04 · Jobs
US employers add 152,000 jobs in the quarter
+152,000 payroll jobs, June 2026 to September 2026
Every value
| Month | Change in payroll jobs |
|---|---|
| 2026-09 (preliminary) | +29,000 |
| 2026-08 | +133,000 |
| 2026-07 | −10,000 |
| 2026-06 | +31,000 |
| 2026-05 | +63,000 |
| 2026-04 | +148,000 |
| 2026-03 | +214,000 |
| 2026-02 | −156,000 |
| 2026-01 | +160,000 |
| 2025-12 | −17,000 |
| 2025-11 | +41,000 |
| 2025-10 | −140,000 |
US payroll jobs went from 158,892,000 in June 2026 to 159,044,000 in September 2026, seasonally adjusted; September is preliminary. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data as released here on 22 October 2026.
Read from series/2026-10-22.csv, sha256 490f258f0c4d ·
the whole history →
05 · Models
Anthropic leads the text arena on 91 of 92 days
91 of 92 days Anthropic held first place
Anthropic other labs · each block is one model’s days in first place
Every value
| Model | Lab | From | To | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| claude-opus-4-6-thinking | Anthropic | 2026-07-01 | 2026-07-25 | 25 |
| claude-opus-5-high | Anthropic | 2026-07-26 | 2026-07-26 | 1 |
| claude-opus-5-max | Anthropic | 2026-07-27 | 2026-08-18 | 23 |
| claude-opus-5-high | Anthropic | 2026-08-19 | 2026-08-26 | 8 |
| claude-opus-5-max | Anthropic | 2026-08-27 | 2026-09-01 | 6 |
| claude-fable-5.1-max | Anthropic | 2026-09-02 | 2026-09-24 | 23 |
| claude-opus-5.5-high | Anthropic | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-29 | 5 |
| gemini-4-argon-high | 2026-09-30 | 2026-09-30 | 1 |
First place on LMArena’s Text leaderboard changed hands 7 times in the quarter; days held by other labs: Google 1. LMArena, CC BY 4.0. Data as released here on 22 October 2026.
Read from frontier/reigns/2026-10-22.csv, sha256 50487993696e ·
the whole history →
06 · Vendors
AI platforms retire 72 model versions in the quarter
72 model versions retired in 2026 Q3
Every value
| Platform | Retirement dates in the quarter |
|---|---|
| OpenAI | 28 |
| Azure AI Foundry | 17 |
| Amazon Bedrock | 11 |
| Mistral AI | 9 |
| Google’s Gemini API | 6 |
| Anthropic | 1 |
Each retirement date that fell in the quarter, as 6 platforms’ own deprecation pages gave it; the most: OpenAI 28, Azure AI Foundry 17 and Amazon Bedrock 11. Several platforms list other makers’ models. Data as released here on 26 October 2026.
Read from frontier/retirements/2026-10-26.csv, sha256 50d3e9dc65df ·
the whole history →
- Buildout: U.S. Census Bureau (public domain), as this site released it on 22 October 2026: series.csv, release 2026-10-22, sha256
490f258f0c4d. - Power: U.S. Energy Information Administration (public domain), as this site released it on 22 October 2026: series.csv, release 2026-10-22, sha256
490f258f0c4d. - Chips: Taiwan FSC, via TWSE (OGDL 1.0), as this site released it on 16 October 2026: machine/sales.csv, release 2026-10-16, sha256
29afa0a0efe7. - Jobs: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (public domain), as this site released it on 22 October 2026: series.csv, release 2026-10-22, sha256
490f258f0c4d. - Models: LMArena (CC BY 4.0), as this site released it on 22 October 2026: frontier/reigns.csv, release 2026-10-22, sha256
50487993696e. - Vendors: each vendor’s own deprecation page (facts, quoted, with a link to each page), as this site released it on 26 October 2026: frontier/retirements.csv, release 2026-10-26, sha256
50d3e9dc65df.