Copper: The Forgotten Hero Of The AI and EV Revolution

When the world last fixated on tech-stars in bubbles, the dot-com mania, the housing boom, the crypto surge, the real fortunes were often made by those who owned the underlying infrastructure. Today, attention is locked on AI firms such as Nvidia Corporation and other generative-AI leaders, yet a far humbler asset may be quietly powering their success: copper.

“While investors chase AI giants like Nvidia, the real opportunity may lie in copper, the unseen backbone of the digital and green revolutions.”

The key question is: are investors missing the real AI opportunity hiding inside the wires that power it all?

Why Copper Matters In The Era Of AI & Electrification

Every watt of electricity that powers AI models, data-centres or EVs must flow through wiring, cables and infrastructure built on copper.

A single hyper-scale data centre uses more power than a small city: every watt travels through copper-heavy cabling, transformers, and cooling systems.

In EVs too, copper’s role is magnified. EVs generally require two to three times more copper than equivalent petrol vehicles, while charging stations and renewable-energy networks further extend this demand. This industrial metal is not trending on social media yet but without it, even the most advanced AI models will remain powerless.

Where Is The Biggest Impact?

• Data-centres & AI infrastructure: As we shift from centralised computing to massive GPU farms, the power densities will rise, and more copper will be required in racks, cooling loop internals and power feeds.

• Electric vehicles & charging networks: EV adoption demands far more copper per vehicle than internal-combustion models; charging hubs, cables, and grid integration will amplify this further.

• Renewables & grid transmission: While solar and wind are zero-carbon at source, their electricity must travel through copper-dense networks; changes in grid architecture will thus increase the copper-intensity of the transition.

• India’s national ambition: India’s push to become a tech/AI leader, ramp up EVs, renewables, and data-centre capacity is not just about code, but also metal. None of them move forward if copper supply stumbles.

What Are Investors In For?

The copper prices hit a 17-month peak recently, as demand optimism rose on US-China trade deal hopes, reflecting how sensitive supply and demand for copper has become.

In India, copper demand grew by 9.3% in FY25 to 1,878 kilo-tonnes, as the demand for copper is proving to being already fueled by infrastructure, electrification, and renewables.

What are the Challenges?

• Supply-side constraints: Mines are ageing, ore grades are declining, permissions take longer, and production is concentrated in a few countries. All of these point to structural risk in meeting surging demand.
  
• Volatility & cyclical risk: As a commodity, copper is exposed to broader economic swings; short-term corrections or macro headwinds may dent the thesis even if the long-term trend remains intact.
  
• Not a one-way guarantee: While tight supply plus rising demand suggests a favourable backdrop, there is no assured one-way rally. Investors must be aware of timing and valuation.
  
• India-specific constraints: For India to capitalise, it must secure access to global copper resources, build refining and cable manufacturing domestically, and push recycling/ circular-metals strategies.
  

Future Outlook

The convergence of AI scale-up, EV/renewable growth and data-centre proliferation clearly suggests that copper’s role will only intensify. The structural imbalance of “rising demand without matching supply” is already forming.

For India, this means that the country cannot win the AI/EV/green transition race without securing the underlying metal flows. If India acts early, securing resources, developing domestic refining and recycling, it stands to shift from dependency to influence.

Conclusion

In an era dominated by flashy AI firms and headline-grabbing valuations, the humble wiring, transformers and cables built on copper may represent the quieter, more tangible route to participating in the next decade of transformation. For investors and policymakers alike, the metal that carries power matters just as much as the code that uses it.

The glaring question is: will this demand for copper be realised early or will it be realised only when its scarcity sends prices soaring?

Reference:

The Economic Times
The Economic Times
The Economic Times