Building fossil-fuel infrastructure to power data centers is a poor bet. Renewables are by far the cheaper, faster choice. A data center south of Los Angeles, in Vernon, California (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Artificial intelligence’s bubblitude fizzes with circular transactions, risk concealment, and exotic real-estate debt finance. In a frenzy to build AI data centers, Big Tech recently borrowed and bonded more money in 11 weeks than in the previous three years combined.