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- 🥛 The hidden force beneath the servers ⚡️
🥛 The hidden force beneath the servers ⚡️
Your latest Milk Road AI Report.
Emilin .
November 03, 2025
AI’s running so hot right now, the next unicorn might just sell (only) fans.
It’s time for another Milk Road AI Macro Report.
This is where we take a deep dive into the part of the AI boom nobody’s paying attention to: the hardware keeping it alive and one of the powerhouses behind it.
Everyone’s talking about models, chips, and trillion dollar valuations. Beneath the buzz, there’s a problem that could decide how far this revolution really goes.
The truth is, AI has outgrown code and chips; it’s now colliding with the limits of the physical world.
Here’s what we are cooking in today’s issue (besides the servers):
How the AI buildout is stretching the grid and driving up energy demand across the country
Why data center construction is exploding
The hidden backbone keeping the world’s data running, stable, and cool
How new power systems are changing the way modern data centers operate
The industrial cooling war reshaping how hyper-scalers manage AI heat
The staggering numbers behind the next $8 trillion buildout
And the company quietly positioned at the center of it all
Grab your coffee. Plug in your laptop.
We’ve got a lot of voltage to cover. So, let’s plug in. ⚡️
The Upcoming Crisis Powering the AI Boom
AI is the hottest thing on the planet right now and everyone’s talking about AI like it’s the second coming of the internet. What no one’s talking about? The fact that it’s about to blow a fuse.
By 2030, U.S. data centers could eat up as much as 12% of America’s entire power supply enough to keep 24 million homes running. Meanwhile, electricity bills in states like Maryland and California have jumped 29% in three years.
The smarter our machines get, the more expensive it gets to charge our phones.
The Power Crunch Nobody’s Ready For
Every time a new AI model launches, somewhere in America, a power plant groans.
Tech companies are building data centers faster than college kids slamming down caffeine before finals. Each one’s the size of an airport terminal, packed with racks of GPUs and servers that never sleep.
Construction is up 400% since 2022, with $40 billion in projects already underway.
For the first time ever, there are more data centers being built than office towers. We used to build places for people. Now we’re building places for machines that talk like people.
Global spending on these digital fortresses will hit $506 billion this year and could pass $900 billion by 2028.
The “Unsexy” Company Running the AI Boom
NVIDIA just made history. The chipmaker became the first company ever to hit a $5 trillion market cap.
It now makes up a record 8% of the entire S&P 500, meaning one out of every twelve dollars in the index is riding on Jensen Huang’s leather jacket.
That’s the biggest single company share since the 1970s and to put it in perspective, NVIDIA is now worth more than the entire economy of Japan or India and it’s blown past Germany’s GDP.
Not bad for a company that was launched inside of a Denny’s that used to make graphics cards for gamers.
While everyone’s staring at NVIDIA’s mountain of gold, there’s another company quietly powering the entire operation: Vertiv Holdings ($VRT).
The Company Powering AI’s Beating Heart
Meet Vertiv Holdings ($VRT),the company making sure the AI boom doesn’t trip the circuit breaker.
While everyone’s obsessing over chips and chatbots, Vertiv’s become the global leader in digital infrastructure, the power, cooling, and connectivity backbone that keeps the world’s data alive.
Its gear keeps networks stable, data centers efficient, and AI clusters running like a caffeine addict on no sleep.
This isn’t the sexy side of tech but It’s the necessary side. The one that prevents $500 million worth of GPUs from turning into space heaters.
Vertiv’s pushing the limits of high-performance computing, building denser, faster, and cooler systems that can handle the insane heat of AI workloads. Or as the company likes to say:
“The world depends on data we power and cool.” Yeah, they actually mean it.
Here’s what makes Vertiv tick:
⚙️ Power Infrastructure: Vertiv builds industrial-strength power systems: UPS units, switchgear, and battery backups that keep data centers alive when the grid sneezes. If your neighborhood blacks out, Vertiv’s servers keep humming like nothing happened.
🥶 Thermal Management: These AI racks get hot. Like, “roast-a-Thanksgiving-turkey-in-seconds” hot. Vertiv’s liquid-cooling systems and monster chillers turn that chaos into controlled airflow. Its new CoolChip units can handle multi-megawatt heat loads that would cook most setups.
🧰 Services & Integration: Vertiv’s not just a hardware company; it’s a global pit crew. Its engineers design, install, and maintain the guts of the modern internet for Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta. They’re the ones making sure your cloud doesn’t spontaneously combust.
If NVIDIA is the brain of AI, Vertiv is the circulatory system, pumping power, oxygen, and cooling through the entire digital body.
And business? It’s booming.
Vertiv’s stock is up 1,032% in the past five years and has doubled just this year. That kind of chart belongs in museums. But here’s the crazy part: this story’s just getting started.
The AI buildout is only warming up (literally). And Vertiv’s standing dead center in the middle of it, selling the shovels, wires, and cooling towers for the biggest tech gold rush of our time.
The Power Play That Changed the Game
Vertiv didn’t wait for the grid to start smoking before acting, it saw the problem years ago.
This year, the company teamed up with NVIDIA to roll out 800-volt DC power systems, the next big upgrade in how data centers stay alive without frying the grid.
Here’s what they’re tackling:
Most data centers still run on alternating current (AC) from the grid.
The catch? Servers need direct current (DC) to operate. So every bit of power gets converted back and forth, a wasteful, heat-spewing process that’s fine for a small office, but a nightmare when your racks pull 250 kilowatts each.
Vertiv’s 800V DC setup cuts out the middle steps. It delivers power straight to the servers, trims energy loss by double digits, and keeps everything cooler with less copper and less chaos.
More efficiency, fewer fire hazards.
This isn’t Vertiv’s first time dealing with DC power. The company’s been building these systems for over two decades, thanks to its telecom roots.
That head start means while competitors are still Googling “how to retrofit for AI,” Vertiv’s already shipping the solution.
And the timing? Couldn’t be better. NVIDIA’s next-gen Rubin platform drops in 2026, and Vertiv’s 800V DC architecture will be ready to plug right in.
AI’s about to use more power than some countries and Vertiv’s just making sure the lights stay on.
Inside the Cooling War
Power’s one problem. Heat’s the other and it’s a monster.
Modern AI servers are running hotter than anything in data center history. A single GPU rack can generate more heat than an office tower. Old-school air conditioning can’t handle that kind of thermal chaos.
Vertiv’s answer? Industrial-scale liquid cooling.
Its CoolChip CDU systems can handle 2.3 megawatts of cooling capacity per unit, an absurd number in this industry. Think of it as a radiator the size of a shipping container, built to circulate coolant directly through server racks.
Then there’s CoolPhase Flex, co-developed with Compass Data Centers, a hybrid cooling system that blends air and liquid cooling into one flexible module.
It can instantly adjust to different workloads, light computing gets air cooling, heavy AI training gets liquid.
That flexibility matters. It means hyperscalers like Amazon or Microsoft can run mixed operations in one building instead of maintaining two separate cooling infrastructures.
The result? Lower costs, higher uptime, and data centers that can evolve as workloads change.
The $8 Trillion Buildout
The numbers driving this story are almost cartoonish.
McKinsey projects $3 to $8 trillion in global AI infrastructure investment this decade.
The International Energy Agency expects data-center electricity use to more than double by 2030, accounting for 40% of new power demand worldwide.
You can’t build that world without power systems, cooling, and grid support. You can’t build those things without Vertiv as one of the key players in this game.
The Bumps in Vertiv’s Power Line
Now, before we all run off buying $VRT hoodies and calling it the “next NVIDIA,” let’s talk about the sparks flying behind the scenes.
Even the best power company can get a little… shocked.
Vertiv’s biggest short-term headache isn’t heat, it’s tariffs. Import costs on Chinese components have been frying margins faster than a faulty power unit.
The company’s scrambled to reroute production, and now says about 90% of its U.S. products qualify under USMCA rules. That helps… until the next trade headline drops.
Even Vertiv admits the situation during their Q3 earnings and described it as“fluid and uncertain,” which is basically corporate for “your guess is as good as ours.”
It’s trying to play tariff dodgeball while keeping up with record demand, but there’s only so much room to maneuver when Washington keeps moving the goalposts.
If hyperscalers like Amazon or Microsoft refuse to swallow higher prices, Vertiv might be the one footing the bill. In other words: every shipment’s a coin flip between a fat margin or a fried balance sheet.
Then there’s the supply chain, which still moves at dial-up speed. Key parts like semiconductors, fans, and batteries have lead times stretching past 52 weeks.
With a $9.5B backlog, even one hiccup could delay deliveries and give hyperscalers (looking at you, AWS) an excuse to build their own gear and Amazon’s already testing that with its in-house cooling system, IRHX.
Translation: the cool kids are starting to sit at their own lunch table.
The Moat That’s Practically Cemented in
Once a Vertiv system is installed, it’s staying put. You don’t casually switch brands on a 500-megawatt data center unless you enjoy billion-dollar downtime.
That’s the moat.
Vertiv’s long-term service contracts stretch for decades, creating sticky recurring revenue that competitors can’t touch.
They’ve built a global army of engineers who maintain, monitor, and upgrade those systems meaning even rivals end up calling Vertiv when something breaks.
And then there’s the latest quarter, a straight-up power play.
Vertiv reported Q3 2025 earnings of $1.24 per share, crushing estimates of $0.99. Revenue hit $2.68 billion, up 29% from last year and well above expectations.
That came right after another knockout quarter where EPS and revenue both jumped over 40% year-over-year.
This isn’t some hype driven AI trade that’ll fizzle next quarter. Vertiv’s business is wired into the world’s digital backbone, the longer the AI boom lasts, the more it cements its place in the foundation.
AI might get all the fame, but Vertiv’s the one sending the invoices.
Alright, let’s land this plane.
Everyone’s losing their minds over AI models, but here’s the truth: none of it works without power, cooling, and a company willing to crawl under the digital hood to keep it all from frying.
One of those companies is Vertiv.
While NVIDIA’s out there flexing 5 trillion-dollar valuations, Vertiv’s the one making sure the servers don’t turn into campfires.
It’s not the flashy AI name you brag about at brunch, but it’s the one cashing checks from every major players in the game.
Vertiv doesn’t bet on who wins the AI race. It sells the cooling, the reliability, and the peace of mind that the lights will stay on.
Figuratively and literally.