Bloom Energy, Vertiv, GE Vernova, Vistra and Constellation Energy shares rose Wednesday amid concerns about the power and equipment needed to expand AI computing capacity.
- Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said electricity would remain a major bottleneck for the AI buildout over the next couple of years.
- SpaceX CEO Elon Musk pointed to power, cooling and infrastructure constraints, including 12-to-18-month delays for some gas-turbine components.
- President Donald Trump called for new and large data centers to generate their own electricity and provide excess power to local communities or the grid.
Shares of power and electrical equipment companies rose Wednesday after three of the most influential voices in AI said electricity, not chips, is what limits the buildout.
On the sidelines at GTC Berlin in an interview with Yahoo Finance, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said that power would remain “one of the major bottlenecks” for the AI buildout over the next couple of years.
“It [power] is one of the major bottlenecks… Now that we’re ramping up these AI factories around the world, power becomes increasingly so.”
– Jensen Huang, Nvidia, CEO
His comments came after Elon Musk, during the SpaceX (SPCX) third-quarter on Tuesday, said that the primary “constraint” of the AI built out was power, cooling and infrastructure rather than chips.
“The constraint on deployment of superintelligence is more in power and cooling and infrastructure than it is in chips.”
– Elon Musk, CEO, SpaceX
Power, Cooling Stocks Rally
Shares Bloom Energy (BE), Vertiv, GE Vernova, Vistra, Constellation Energy (CEG) and other power companies rose in morning trade on Wednesday.
BE stock rose over 6% and was among the top gainers of the S&P 500, alongside Super Micro Computer (SMCI), DataDog (DDOG) and Echostar Corp. (ECHO). The shares were on-track to post weekly gains in the green after a drop of around 1.5% in the previous session.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BE shares remained in ‘neutral’ territory even as chatter increased to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels. Platform data showed an increase of 85% in message volume.
VRT stock rose around 5.7% in morning trade, while GEV stock gained 3.7%, VST stock climbed 2.7% and CEG stock ascended around 2.2%.
Jensen Huang Says AI Bottlenecks Will Keep Shifting
In the interview, Huang stated that bottlenecks are bound to occur in a market where the overall demand is so great. He also noted that bottlenecks continue to shift as the industry develops. “It started with wafer and the co-ops to HBM memories to silicon photonics. Those bottlenecks are going to continue for probably a couple of more years,” Nvidia CEO said.
He added that power itself isn’t an isolated bottleneck. According to Huang, construction limitations, power generator delivery or connection to the grid can also slow down the process.
“I think the bottlenecks are just physical bottlenecks, and they’re part of the physical world.”
– Jensen Huang, CEO, Nvidia
At GTC Berlin, Huang announced Nvidia’s new DSX POD, a new system designed to get AI data centers up and running faster. He also pointed to T-Mobile (TMUS) and Nokia (NOK) in this vision of telecom providers becoming the new layer of artificial intelligence.
Elon Musk Flags Turbine Delays
Musk described power, cooling and electrical equipment as “somewhat of a limiting factor” for expanding AI compute. During the earnings call, he said SpaceX aims to add 20 gigawatts (GW) of power and cooling capacity next year, with the goal of ensuring those resources do not constrain its plan to bring about 13 GW of computing capacity online by the end of 2027.
Musk also pointed to long lead times for gas-turbine components. “Casting is this really difficult bottleneck,” he said, adding that producing the parts in-house could allow SpaceX to bring power online 12 to 18 months faster than competitors.
Musk explained that the company plans to use “many different sources of power, not just gas turbines.”
Trump Pushes On-Site Power
The infrastructure constraints are also becoming a policy issue, with democrats like Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) calling for a “national moratorium” on data centers. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social early Wednesday that new and large data centers “are mandated by me to make their own electricity” and provide or sell excess power to the local community or grid. He also said companies should pay communities a “dividend.”
Trump did not explain how the requirement would be enforced. In March, his administration secured a pledge from technology companies to build or purchase their own power.
Why Investors Are Watching Power Stocks
Several companies are already tied to the infrastructure buildout. GE Vernova’s gas-turbine backlog and slot reservations reached 100 GW in the first quarter, reflecting demand for equipment used to generate electricity.
Oracle (ORCL) said in April that Bloom Energy fuel cells would power its New Mexico campus, which could reach 2.45 GW in capacity. Vertiv, which supplies power-management and cooling systems, is among the partners in Nvidia’s new DSX POD containerized AI factories.
Vistra and Constellation Energy operate nuclear and natural-gas generation fleets, assets that are attracting interest from large technology companies seeking long-term power supplies for data centers.
Energy stocks also drew support from the broader energy market, with Brent crude futures expiring in December traded at nearly $110 a barrel amid U.S.-Iran tensions.
Read also: Nvidia GTC Berlin Keynote: Jensen Huang Puts $50 Billion Price Tag On 1GW AI Factory Amid DSX POD Launch
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