AI infrastructure

Michael Dell acknowledges booming AI server demand while anticipating a potential saturation point. Fueled by AI’s evolution, Dell’s server and networking business surged, with AI servers integrating Nvidia chips used by CoreWeave and xAI. Dell raised revenue and EPS growth expectations, projecting $20B in fiscal 2026 AI server shipments. Power consumption is a key challenge, as highlighted by OpenAI’s energy-intensive data center plans, requiring focus on energy-efficient solutions and infrastructure development.

Altimeter’s Brad Gerstner views OpenAI’s partnerships with Nvidia and AMD cautiously, emphasizing the difference between announcements and actual hardware deployment. OpenAI’s pursuit of advanced silicon reflects the escalating demand for AI compute power and intensifying industry competition. Gerstner notes the world will remain “compute-constrained.” The AI hardware race between the U.S. and China is also highlighted, with concerns raised about Chinese AI firm DeepSeek’s potential government alignment and the need for increased compute capacity for U.S. firms like OpenAI to maintain competitiveness.

OpenAI and AMD have reportedly finalized a deal where OpenAI will take a 10% stake in AMD, driving AMD’s stock up. OpenAI plans to deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD’s GPUs, starting with 1 gigawatt in 2026. AMD will issue OpenAI a warrant for 160 million shares, vesting upon achievement of deployment and performance milestones. This partnership aims to alleviate supply chain concerns and diversify OpenAI’s hardware sources. This deal, alongside existing agreements with Nvidia, signifies OpenAI’s massive $1 trillion investment in AI infrastructure. Analysts highlight the interconnectedness and potential vulnerabilities within this AI supply chain.

Nvidia’s stock hit a new record high, exceeding $4.5 trillion in market capitalization, driven by its dominant role in AI. The stock is up 39% year-to-date, fueled by strategic deals and its essential AI infrastructure. Rumors suggest closer ties with OpenAI, including a potential equity stake and plans for massive Nvidia-powered data centers (“Stargate”) requiring a $500B investment. Citi analysts raised Nvidia’s price target, citing increased AI infrastructure spending. Meta and Google are also increasing AI investments, benefiting Nvidia, and highlighting the competitive AI landscape.

CoreWeave (CRWV) shares jumped nearly 12% after announcing a $14.2 billion AI cloud infrastructure deal with Meta (META). This follows a $6.5 billion expanded agreement with OpenAI, totaling $22.4 billion. CoreWeave specializes in high-performance computing using Nvidia GPUs, catering to the growing demand for AI and machine learning workloads. Meta’s commitment includes options for expansion through 2032, reflecting its broader investment in AI. Meta projects significant expenses for AI initiatives, including the launch of its first supercluster, highlighting the increasing competition and opportunity in the AI cloud market.

OpenAI, valued at $500 billion, is heavily investing in AI infrastructure, securing agreements worth billions with companies like Nvidia, Oracle, and CoreWeave. These expenditures drive innovation but raise concerns about sustainability. While OpenAI anticipates $13 billion in revenue this year, analysts caution about vendor financing similarities to the dot-com era and the immense revenue needed to justify the investments. CEO Sam Altman defends the spending, emphasizing the infrastructure needs for AI’s future, citing compute power demands that could necessitate $2 trillion in annual revenue.

CoreWeave (CRWV) expanded its partnership with OpenAI, securing a $6.5 billion deal. This brings their total contracted revenue from OpenAI to $22.5 billion. CoreWeave provides specialized compute infrastructure for AI and machine learning, utilizing high-density Nvidia GPUs. CEO Michael Intrator emphasizes CoreWeave’s ability to power demanding AI workloads. The deal highlights the escalating demand for computational resources in AI and CoreWeave’s position as a key infrastructure provider, alongside players like Microsoft. This signals both growth for CoreWeave and increasing concentration of resources in the AI sector.

Nscale, a UK-based AI infrastructure firm, secured $1.1 billion in Series B funding led by Aker, with participation from Nvidia, Nokia, and Dell. This investment will fuel the expansion of AI-ready data centers to meet the surging demand for compute power driven by AI model development. Nscale collaborates with OpenAI on the “Stargate” project, building data centers in the UK and Norway, aiming for significant Nvidia GPU deployments by 2027 focusing on secure and energy-efficient AI infrastructure.

Huawei introduced SuperPoD at HUAWEI CONNECT 2025, a new AI infrastructure architecture that aggregates thousands of AI chips into a unified resource using UnifiedBus (UB). This creates a “supercomputer” from distributed servers, designed to address the limitations of traditional architectures. The Atlas 950 SuperPoD utilizes up to 8,192 Ascend 950DT chips, with future plans for the larger Atlas 960. Beyond AI, TaiShan 950 SuperPoD targets general-purpose computing. Huawei’s open-source approach with UnifiedBus 2.0 aims to accelerate innovation and foster broad industry participation in AI infrastructure development.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares surged to 2021 highs after announcing increased AI investment and new AI product updates. Shares jumped over 6%, boosting year-to-date gains above 107%. CEO Eddie Wu revealed plans to increase spending on AI models and infrastructure on top of the existing 380 billion yuan investment. Alibaba unveiled the Qwen3-Max large language model and updates to its AI portfolio, emphasizing its position as a full-stack AI service provider. Wu projected over $4 trillion global AI investment in the next five years, highlighting Alibaba’s strategic AI pivot.