AI and Energy Infrastructure, Explained Plainly, The Physical Layer

The Physical Layer

AI and Energy Infrastructure, Explained Plainly

A journal on the physical constraints behind the AI buildout: power, grid connection, data centres, cooling and the supply chains that gate them. Written to be understood by anyone.

Equity Bottom-Up

<ul><li>Broadcom makes the switch chips that let thousands of AI processors work as one machine, whoever made the processors.</li><li>It also designs the custom AI chips that Google, Meta, OpenAI and others are building to rely less on Nvidia.</li><li>So whichever way the biggest buyers turn, the work runs through Broadcom, and the risk sits with a handful of very powerful customers.</li></ul>

Broadcom makes the switch chips that let thousands of AI processors work as one machine, whoever made the processors.It also designs the custom AI chips that Google, Meta, OpenAI and others are building to rely less on Nvidia.So whichever way the biggest buyers turn, the work runs through Broadcom, and the risk sits with a handful of very powerful customers.

Broadcom is paid whether the cloud giants stay with Nvidia or leave

External broker reports(aggregated public sources), Mirae Asset Securities

Mirae Asset Securities

External broker reports(aggregated public sources)

Mirae Asset Securities Co.,Ltd. provides comprehensive wealth management services. The Company offers fixed income securities brokerage, securities dealing, equity underwriting, and other services. Mirae Asset Securities also deals with mergers and acquisitions, foreign currency, and financial derivatives

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>For 2025, big tech companies’ capex is estimated at around US$460bn (+72% YoY).</li><li>Despite a high base, capex is projected to continue rising in 2026, reaching around US$600bn (+33% YoY).</li><li>Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta are each expected to increase capex by around 40% YoY.</li></ul>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

For 2025, big tech companies’ capex is estimated at around US$460bn (+72% YoY).Despite a high base, capex is projected to continue rising in 2026, reaching around US$600bn (+33% YoY).Microsoft, Alphabet, and Meta are each expected to increase capex by around 40% YoY.Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

[2026 Outlook] Semiconductors Robust Earnings Cycle Ahead

Asian Hedge Fund Manager, Long Short Equity, Macro

David Mudd

Cross Asset Strategy

<ul>
<li>The U.S. market will experience increased turbulence in 2026 as the Federal Reserve continues to ease monetary policy and inflationary pressures intensify.  Speculative market sectors are already under pressure.</li>
<li>There is a disconnect between the Administration's claims about lowering prices and consumers' concerns about affordability.  The disconnect is driven by inaccurate BLS inflation numbers that are greatly understated.</li>
<li>The FOMC shows a historic split in the course of Fed actions through 2026, which will continue to unsettle markets regardless of who the next Fed Chairman is.</li>
</ul>


The U.S. market will experience increased turbulence in 2026 as the Federal Reserve continues to ease monetary policy and inflationary pressures intensify.  Speculative market sectors are already under pressure.
There is a disconnect between the Administration's claims about lowering prices and consumers' concerns about affordability.  The disconnect is driven by inaccurate BLS inflation numbers that are greatly understated.
The FOMC shows a historic split in the course of Fed actions through 2026, which will continue to unsettle markets regardless of who the next Fed Chairman is.


US: Economic Policy Goes on the Naughty List in 2025

External broker reports(aggregated public sources), CMB International

CMB International

Incorporated in Hong Kong, supported by the mainland and targeting in global market, CMB International Capital Corporation Limited (“CMBI”) is an integrated financial institution providing comprehensive and professional services. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Merchants Bank ("CMB"), by leveraging on the Group’s synergy and coordination in domestic and overseas markets, as well as CMB’s strong resources and outstanding social reputation, CMBI and its subsidiaries have been actively implementing diversified business strategies and set up an overall layout of main business segments including Corporate Finance, Asset Management, Wealth Management, Global Markets and Structured Finance, etc. Adhering to the philosophy of “being clients oriented and increasing our own values by the way of creating value for clients”, CMBI endeavors to provide quality and integrated financial services to institutional, corporate and individual customers both domestic and overseas including Hong Kong IPO sponsorship and underwriting, share placement and rights issue for listed companies, financial advisors, bonds issuance services, asset management, direct investment, wealth management, equity sales and trading, etc.

<ul><li>Looking ahead to 2026, we believe competition in the large language model (LLM) industry will further intensify, while monetization of AI applications in niche segments should see continued momentum.</li><li>We are optimistic about the further monetization potential driven by improved AI agent capabilities, as well as increased paid user penetration and monetization from advanced image editing and video generation LLMs.</li><li>We currently do not anticipate overinvestment risks among cloud service providers, and expect 2026 earnings growth of US-listed leaders to support their valuations. </li></ul>Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

Looking ahead to 2026, we believe competition in the large language model (LLM) industry will further intensify, while monetization of AI applications in niche segments should see continued momentum.We are optimistic about the further monetization potential driven by improved AI agent capabilities, as well as increased paid user penetration and monetization from advanced image editing and video generation LLMs.We currently do not anticipate overinvestment risks among cloud service providers, and expect 2026 earnings growth of US-listed leaders to support their valuations. Content is external broker report sourced from online content aggregator through publicly available sources and is displayed below for general informational purposes only. Refer full disclaimer below.

US Internet & Software - 2026 outlook: AI applications to ramp up; eyes on AI investment return

Research from Water Tower Research, Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research

Research from Water Tower Research

Water Tower Research is a leading equity research firm that provides research on micro, small and mid cap companies.

Water Tower Research was founded by Wall Street veterans after witnessing a fundamental shift in the investment research industry with the result being a declining knowledge base among investors, a lack of awareness and a shrinking pool of fundamental research being conducted on companies across the small-cap and micro-cap spectrum. The same issues are now increasingly occurring in the mid-cap space. This sea change within the investment community is impacting not only the companies themselves but also current shareholders and potential investors. With significantly less active sell-side sponsorship by Wall Street, a substantial information gap has developed between companies and various constituents in the financial community. The net result is fewer channels for insight and information to flow between companies and investors.

Equity Research Firm

<ul><li>This month’s AI landscape reveals a market at an inflection point, with record infrastructure commitments colliding with growing bubble anxiety. </li><li>Meta’s staggering $600-billion US buildout plan and Anthropic’s $50-billion data center announcements underscore that the compute arms race is accelerating, not cooling.</li><li>Yet caution signals are flashing, as CoreWeave trimmed its full-year guidance despite strong 3Q results, while Nvidia, CoreWeave, and Nebius Group all saw pressure on their stocks. </li></ul>

This month’s AI landscape reveals a market at an inflection point, with record infrastructure commitments colliding with growing bubble anxiety. Meta’s staggering $600-billion US buildout plan and Anthropic’s $50-billion data center announcements underscore that the compute arms race is accelerating, not cooling.Yet caution signals are flashing, as CoreWeave trimmed its full-year guidance despite strong 3Q results, while Nvidia, CoreWeave, and Nebius Group all saw pressure on their stocks. 

AI Flow Newsletter : Monitoring The "Currents" Of AI

United States

Meta Platforms Inc. operates as a social technology company. The Company builds applications and technologies that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. meta Platform is also involved in advertisements, augmented and virtual reality.

Price Gauge
52-week Range	0.00 - 0.00
Market Cap (USDm)	0.00
P/E	0.00
Dividend (Yield)	0.00

Meta (META US)

Broadcom is paid whether the cloud giants stay with Nvidia or leave

Broadcom makes the switch chips that let thousands of AI processors work as one machine, whoever made the processors. It also designs the custom...

The Physical Layer

[2026 Outlook] Semiconductors Robust Earnings Cycle Ahead

For 2025, big tech companies’ capex is estimated at around US$460bn (+72% YoY).Despite a high base, capex is projected to continue rising in 2026,...

Mirae Asset Securities

US: Economic Policy Goes on the Naughty List in 2025

US market will have increased turbulence in 2026 as the Federal Reserve continues to ease monetary policy & inflationary pressures intensify....

David Mudd

US Internet & Software - 2026 outlook: AI applications to ramp up; eyes on AI investment return

Looking ahead to 2026, we believe competition in the large language model (LLM) industry will further intensify, while monetization of AI...

CMB International

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)