#data-center-infrastructure

#data-center-infrastructure

The hardest part about investing in artificial intelligence isn't believing in the technology-it's deciding which companies will actually profit from it. Will chip makers dominate? Cloud providers? Software platforms? Infrastructure builders? The answer is probably all of them, which is why iShares Future AI & Tech ETF (NYSEARCA:ARTY) has become popular for investors wanting broad AI exposure without concentrated bets.

As 2025 comes to an end, it seems fitting to look at how Microsoft's Azure hyperscale cloud is planning to address the second half of the decade. As has become traditional, Azure CTO Mark Russinovich gave his usual look at that future in his presentations at Ignite, this time split into two separate talks on infrastructure and software. The first presentation looked at how the underlying infrastructure of Azure is developing and how the software you use is adapting to use the new hardware.

One afternoon in June 2024, I stood up against the fence of a sprawling industrial facility a few miles outside of Corsicana, Texas. Over a metal gate, I watched a bright yellow excavator claw at the dirt and flatbed trucks shuttle to and fro. A hangar-like structure with a gleaming white roof stretched hundreds of meters along the opposite perimeter. The company that owned the plot, Riot Platforms, was busily constructing the world's largest bitcoin mine.

Nvidia announced Monday that it plans to invest $100 billion in OpenAI in a deal that would give the ChatGPT maker a major leg up in the AI race - access to 10 gigawatts worth of the high-powered GPUs it needs to satisfy its mushrooming growth strategy. What the deal can't guarantee - and what neither company mentioned - is how OpenAI will access the enormous amount of electricity needed to fire up those chips.

( BroadcomNASDAQ:AVGO) has been a standout performer, soaring 120% from its April lows and delivering an astonishing 500% return over the past three years. This meteoric rise is fueled by Broadcom's strategic pivot into artificial intelligence (AI), particularly in data centers, where its custom AI chips and networking solutions are in high demand. The company reportedly ( controls around 70% of the custom AI chip market , serving hyperscale clients like major tech giants Google and Meta PlatformsNASDAQ:META) building AI infrastructure.