CNBC AI Forum 2026 convenes in Dallas to debate data center buildout

Business and technology leaders are gathering in Dallas for the CNBC AI Forum 2026, where discussions are centering on enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of data center infrastructure needed to support it.

Topics at the forum include AI agents, cybersecurity, the rising costs of AI infrastructure, and questions of governance as companies scale up their use of the technology.

The data center debate

A central theme at the event is the debate over data center buildout, as companies and governments weigh the capital investment required to support growing AI workloads against concerns about energy use, costs and the pace of returns on that investment.

The forum reflects a broader global competition among companies and nations to build out the computing capacity seen as essential to leading in AI development and deployment, often described as a race for technological advantage.

Speakers and panels are expected to address how enterprises are weighing the costs and risks of large-scale AI investment against the competitive pressure to adopt the technology quickly, as well as how governance frameworks are evolving to keep pace with AI's rapid rollout.

Specific announcements or conclusions from individual forum sessions were not detailed in the available reporting.