The AI industry currently consumes the most advanced technology produced worldwide.
A digital monster with a craving for cables
New chips, complex cooling systems, enormous amounts of power and water are essential to meet the needs of ever-expanding megadata centers.
It turns out that infrastructure dedicated to artificial intelligence requires a significantly larger and denser fiber optic network than a standard data center. Fiber optic cable manufacturers are already feeling it strongly on their own skin.
AI data centers are depleting fiber optic cable supplies at a frightening pace, causing real panic. The entire modern technology industry once again hits the wall of physical resource limits.
AI industry demands have caused even fiber optic cable production lines to run at full capacity. According to media reports, delivery times for this specialized equipment have stretched from weeks to many months, which in turn paralyzes key network investments.
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Numbers say it all - factories falling behind demand
The scale of this phenomenon is truly staggering, and hard market data leave no room for illusion: AI data centers require cabling up to 36 times larger than standard data centers that, for example, serve only Big Data.
Chinese tech media report that demand for fiber optic cables for data centers has increased by as much as 76% in a year and will account for up to 30% of global demand by 2027.
For comparison, in 2024 this figure was only 5%.
Such a gigantic demand jump forced the biggest players in this sector (Hengtong and FiberHome) to immediately launch additional production lines at full power—switching from mass production of standard G.652D fiber cables to the advanced G.657A type, dedicated to AI data centers.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that fiber optic cable production itself takes from 18 to as much as 24 months. For this reason, drastic price hikes are already appearing on the horizon, as reported by Tom’s Hardware, with the price per kilometer of fiber rising from $3.70 to $6.30 since 2021 and likely not stopping there.
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Nvidia’s hegemony—will the giant monopolize the fiber market?
Corporations that largely drive AI industry development are heavily securing their backs. In addition to investing in uranium mines to provide stable fuel for nuclear power plants, huge funds are also being allocated to build more fiber factories.
Nvidia was set to allocate as much as $300 million for this purpose, and ready infrastructure is expected to appear soon in Texas and North Carolina.
By financing factories, Nvidia could create deep asymmetry and a quiet monopoly on the supply of this critical infrastructure. Moreover, the giant will likely secure first‑right of refusal and priority deliveries for itself and its partners.
In practice, this will mean complete exclusion of smaller players from the modern cabling market.
Investors see potential in the new niche, as reflected in Nvidia’s shares, which rise by 0.52% in pre‑market trading and reach the level of $220.56.
Chart. Nvidia stock price
Source: TradingView.
See also: Nvidia and Alphabet stocks react to the giants’ launch. One of them may fall behind
Source: TomsHardware.
