Powering Progress | Ep. 10 – Building Resilience into AI Infrastructure

Much of the conversation around AI infrastructure has focused on growth, new data centers, unprecedented capital investment, rising power demand, and the race to build capacity fast enough to keep up. But every major infrastructure boom eventually enters a different phase. Projects become operational, markets evolve, technologies advance, regulations change, and the contracts that looked straightforward during periods of rapid expansion are put to the test. So what happens when today's assumptions no longer hold? In this episode, Vinson & Elkins' Chief Innovation Officer Aubrey Bishai is joined by International Dispute Resolution & Arbitration Partner James Barratt, who advises clients on complex cross-border disputes involving major infrastructure projects and long-term commercial arrangements. James has been at the forefront in identifying where disputes are likely to arise in the operation phase of the AI build-out. Together they discuss the next phase of the AI infrastructure story, where disputes may emerge, the lessons other industries can offer, and what companies should be doing now to build more resilient agreements in the future.