AI BriefingChina Controls 70% of Critical AI Minerals
Key point
China dominates the refining of 19 out of 20 strategic minerals essential to AI infrastructure, with an average market share of 70%.
Details
China dominates the refining market for 19 out of 20 strategic minerals essential to AI infrastructure, with an average 70% market share, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Building AI data centers requires large quantities of minerals. Microsoft's 80-megawatt site in Chicago alone used 2,100 tons of copper. Nickel, cobalt, and lithium go into batteries that power data centers, while rare earths are used in magnets for server fans and hard drives.
The United States relies heavily on its geopolitical rival China for most of the raw materials needed for its $700 billion AI infrastructure buildout.
Deep-sea mining is being proposed as an alternative. One company claims that centuries' worth of minerals lie buried several miles beneath the Pacific seabed.
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