Copper Rally Is Accelerating as AI Data Centers Push Global Supply Toward Crisis Levels

By Frank Holmes – US Global Investors

A conventional data center uses between 5,000 and 15,000 tons of copper. A hyperscale data center, on the other hand—the kind being built to run artificial intelligence (AI)—can require up to 50,000 tons of copper per facility, according to the Copper Development Association.

Think about that for a second. A single AI data center that uses more copper than three conventional facilities combined.

That’s why I think the AI story is about much more than just raw compute power. It also involves electrical infrastructure at a scale we’ve never seen before. And these massive facilities have an insatiable appetite for copper.