AI Demand Remains Strong as Enterprises Focus on Return on Investment

Executives at AI companies told CNBC they are not observing any signs of overcapacity in the global AI infrastructure buildout. While demand remains robust, they indicated that enterprises are intensifying their focus on the cost and return on investment for AI.

"I view AI demand as almost unlimited," stated Pat Gelsinger, a general partner at Playground Global and former CEO of Intel. He added that "almost infinite economic value can be unlocked through increased intelligence across every imaginable industry," with energy availability being the primary constraint.

Other industry leaders echoed the strong demand. Marc Boroditsky, chief revenue officer at Nebius, which builds data centers using Nvidia's GPUs, said, "The demand we are experiencing is extraordinary. There is far more demand than we are able to fulfill, and that has been our experience for some time now."

Andrew Feldman, CEO of Cerebras Systems, characterized the sales of excess capacity by companies like Meta and xAI as unique instances. "For the industry as a whole, the demand for compute far outstrips available capacity, and we are short on data centers. I think we are short, as an industry, on many of the inputs to compute," Feldman stated.

Shares of AI-related chip companies have recently experienced volatility amid an intensified debate over AI demand and spending. The shift towards "valuemaxxing" suggests a growing corporate emphasis on the efficiency and profitability of AI investments.