The Tiny, Essential Building Blocks Powering the AI Boom
Much attention has been paid to the chips powering modern AI systems. But a wide range of other tiny components is needed to transmit data, regulate the flow of electricity and keep the entire system from overheating.
Illustration: Danielle del Plato for Bloomberg Businessweek
AI data centers can be huge, but the real action inside these facilities happens at an infinitesimal scale. Tiny motors whir to spin tiny fans; streams of liquid as thin as thread run through copper plates to keep the heat of computation at bay. The objects that make all this happen are minute pictures of craftsmanship, where microscopic changes can cause everything to fall silent.
Each successive generation of AI chip demands more of these components. Server racks that once required dozens of fiber-optic connections now need tens of thousands. Bottlenecks are appearing everywhere from memory chips to battery systems. This sudden need for billions of such tiny parts has created massive opportunities—and challenges—for the companies that make them.