What it holds
AI Data Center Build-out follows the money through the AI infrastructure bill of materials: the parts it takes to build it, and the companies that earn their revenue supplying them. Each company is read from its own reports, so a holding reflects what it actually sells into the theme, not what it says about it.
| Part | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) | GPU accelerators, AI ASICs custom, foundry leading edge, advanced packaging |
| Video Memory (VRAM) | HBM memory, GDDR memory, DRAM |
| Data Processing Unit (DPU) | DPU SmartNIC |
| Cooling System | direct to chip cooling, thermal management components |
| Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) | voltage regulator modules, power management ICs |
| Motherboard Interface | server motherboards, PCIe CXL retimers switches |
| Interconnection Interface | infiniband, ethernet switch silicon, optical transceivers, SerDes ip, interconnect ICs |
| Network Interface and Controller | NIC controllers |
| Output Interfaces | display interface ICs |
| Software (AI hardware performance) | AI hardware software stack, EDA software |
| Power and Cooling Systems | data center power distribution, UPS systems, power supply units, liquid cooling, data center thermal systems |
| Servers and IT Equipment | servers AI, server CPUs, server ODM |
| Networking Equipment | data center switches routers, optical networking equipment |
| Storage Devices | enterprise SSD, NAND flash, storage controllers, HDD nearline |
| Backup and Disaster Recovery Solutions | backup recovery software |
| Racks and Cable Management | server racks enclosures, data center cabling connectivity |
| Remote Hands Support | data center onsite services |
| Datacenter Software | virtualization software, data center infrastructure management, data center security software |
How it breaks down
- United States47%
- Taiwan32%
- China13%
- France4%
- South Korea3%
- Mega cap (over $200bn)32%
- Large cap ($10bn to $200bn)45%
- Mid cap ($2bn to $10bn)22%
- Small cap (under $2bn)1%
Shares of the strategy as of the data date.
Largest companies
| Company | Listing | Market value |
|---|---|---|
| Auras Technology | 3324.TWO | $4 billion |
| Modine Manufacturing | MOD.XNYS | $8 billion |
| Advanced Energy Industries | AEIS.XNAS | $10 billion |
| Nvidia | NVDA.XNAS | $5.2 trillion |
| Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing | 2330.TW | $1.9 trillion |
| ASE Technology Holding | 3711.TW | $95 billion |
| Vertiv Holdings | VRT.XNYS | $94 billion |
| Marvell Technology | MRVL.XNAS | $221 billion |
| Legrand | LR.PA | $39 billion |
| Delta Electronics | 2308.TW | $124 billion |
| Asia Vital Components | 3017.TW | $39 billion |
| Advanced Micro Devices | AMD.XNAS | $944 billion |
| Broadcom | AVGO.XNAS | $1.7 trillion |
| Shenzhen Envicool Technology | 002837.SHE | $6 billion |
| Micron Technology | MU.XNAS | $1.1 trillion |
The market
Worldwide data center capex, all data center IT and infrastructure, not only AI
Dell'Oro Group, 2030Global investment in data centers as the IEA defines it, not AI-only
IEA, as reported by Data Center Knowledge, 2025The Dell'Oro forecasts were revised upward between Feb 2026 and Aug 2026, and the IEA figure is a 2025 investment number from an energy agency, so it is not directly comparable to the 2030 forecasts. The note gives no growth rates for the whole segment, and its component-level figures are generic-vendor estimates that disagree by large factors, so I left them out.
All 4 published estimates, with sources
| What it measures | Figure | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Worldwide data center capex, all data center IT and infrastructure, not only AI | $1.7 trillion | 2030 | Dell'Oro Group |
| Worldwide data center capex, all data center IT and infrastructure, not only AI (expected to approach this level) | $1.0 trillion | 2026 | Dell'Oro Group |
| Worldwide data center capex, same scope, revised upward (surpasses this level) | $3.0 trillion | 2030 | Dell'Oro Group |
| Global investment in data centers as the IEA defines it, not AI-only | $580bn | 2025 | IEA, as reported by Data Center Knowledge |
Questions
- What is AI Data Center Build-out?
- Everything it takes to build and run an AI data center.
- What does AI Data Center Build-out hold?
- Listed companies that earn their revenue from the parts it takes to build AI Supercycle: Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Video Memory (VRAM), Data Processing Unit (DPU), Cooling System, Voltage Regulator Module (VRM), Motherboard Interface. 86 companies as of 2026-10-28.
- What is not in AI Data Center Build-out?
- Cold plates, vapor chambers, thermal interface materials and server level liquid loops: Cooling System, not Power and Cooling Systems; CDUs, rack manifolds, rear door exchangers, chillers and CRAH units: Power and Cooling Systems, not Cooling System Standard and RDMA NIC adapters and controllers: Network Interface and Controller, not Networking Equipment; programmable SmartNICs and DPUs with onboard compute cores: Data Processing Unit (DPU), not Network Interface and Controller Pluggable optical transceivers, AOCs, DACs and AECs: Interconnection Interface, not Networking Equipment or Racks and Cable Management; long haul and DCI optical transport systems: Networking Equipment; passive fiber trunks, patch panels and structured cabling: Racks and Cable Management
Sources
Every part of the bill of materials is researched from published industry sources, and every company from its own annual reports and exchange data. Nothing is estimated that cannot be sourced.
Industry research: acecampai.substack.com/p/superpods-are-not-bigger-clusters · ai-stack.us/products/2-248-nvidia-connectx-8-supernic-900-9x · akashborate.substack.com/p/understanding-how-to-bring-up-nvi · arxiv.org/pdf/2311.02651 · blog.barrack.ai/nvidia-b300-1400w-data-center-requirements/ · builtin.com/articles/optimize-data-backup-recovery-costs · capitalandcompute.net/memory-prices/hbm/ · convergedigest.com/delloro-ai-back-end-switch-market-to-near · dev.to/gentic_news/nvidia-feynman-gpu-power-semi-content-hit · docs.nvidia.com/enterprise-reference-architectures/nvl72-ai- · electronics.alibaba.com/buyingguides/42u-server-rack-price-g · epoch.ai/data-insights/b200-cost-breakdown · finance.biggo.com/news/X4vnUp4B2jrwCtglf11J · finance.yahoo.com/news/cooling-system-single-nvidia-blackwel · finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/articles/data-center-construct · finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/nvidia-already-make · fourweekmba.com/ai-nvidias-huang-pegs-software-at-about-2000 · fourweekmba.com/hbm-the-memory-that-controls-45-of-gpu-econo · fourweekmba.com/nvidia-compute-revenue/ · github.com/bmsdebug/chinascrape/issues/23
What it is not
Where an item could belong to two parts, these rules decide which owns it; items outside every part are not counted.
- Cold plates, vapor chambers, thermal interface materials and server level liquid loops: Cooling System, not Power and Cooling Systems; CDUs, rack manifolds, rear door exchangers, chillers and CRAH units: Power and Cooling Systems, not Cooling System
- Standard and RDMA NIC adapters and controllers: Network Interface and Controller, not Networking Equipment; programmable SmartNICs and DPUs with onboard compute cores: Data Processing Unit (DPU), not Network Interface and Controller
- Pluggable optical transceivers, AOCs, DACs and AECs: Interconnection Interface, not Networking Equipment or Racks and Cable Management; long haul and DCI optical transport systems: Networking Equipment; passive fiber trunks, patch panels and structured cabling: Racks and Cable Management
- Finished Ethernet and InfiniBand switch systems: Networking Equipment, not Interconnection Interface; merchant switch ASICs and InfiniBand silicon sold as chips: Interconnection Interface, not Networking Equipment
- Board level VRMs, power stages and PMICs: Voltage Regulator Module (VRM), not Power and Cooling Systems
- Server PSUs, rack power shelves and busbars: Power and Cooling Systems, not Servers and IT Equipment, Voltage Regulator Module (VRM) or Racks and Cable Management; power semiconductors inside them counted only within the PSU price
- Server motherboards and GPU baseboards: Motherboard Interface, not Servers and IT Equipment
- ODM rack scale assembly and test value: Servers and IT Equipment, not Racks and Cable Management or Motherboard Interface; rack enclosure hardware itself: Racks and Cable Management
- High speed copper backplanes, scale up cable cartridges and high speed connectors: Interconnection Interface, not Racks and Cable Management
- NVLink and other scale up switch chips: Interconnection Interface, not Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
- PCIe and CXL retimers and switches: Motherboard Interface, not Interconnection Interface; Ethernet and optical DSPs and standalone SerDes IP: Interconnection Interface
- Custom accelerator design services and IP embedded in AI ASICs: Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), not Interconnection Interface; standalone SerDes IP licensing: Interconnection Interface
- HBM stacks including TSV stacking and base die: Video Memory (VRAM), not Graphics Processing Unit (GPU); interposer and 2.5D integration: Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
- Server DRAM modules: Video Memory (VRAM), not Servers and IT Equipment
- CPUs including those bundled in GPU superchip modules: Servers and IT Equipment, not Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
- General purpose server OS, virtualization and cluster orchestration: Datacenter Software, not Software (AI hardware performance); GPU drivers, CUDA, ROCm, AI compilers and inference runtimes: Software (AI hardware performance)
- SSD controllers and RAID or NVMe Storage Devices controllers: Storage Devices, not Data Processing Unit (DPU) or Motherboard Interface
- Backup, replication and recovery software and appliances: Backup and Disaster Recovery Solutions, not data center security software or Storage Devices
- Separately licensed DCIM and monitoring software: Datacenter Software, not Power and Cooling Systems
Not investment advice. Figures are dated and sourced; ThematIQ does not estimate figures it cannot source.