11. Special datasets

The AI infrastructure map (TBO)

TBO opens a partner's research database on the physical build-out of AI and semiconductors: curated lists of companies by niche, physical sites, and dated research notes.

  • 3 min
  • 3 questions
  • Lesson 7 of 8

Why you would care

Who supplies each layer of the AI build-out? The AI boom is also a construction boom: chip factories, packaging plants, data centers, power and cooling. Thousands of companies, many small and listed abroad, supply a narrow piece of it. A map organized by niche helps you find who else is exposed when one piece gets scarce or crowded.

The idea from scratch

Think of an AI data center as a stack of layers, each with its own suppliers:

LayerExamples of what companies make
ChipsLeading-edge logic foundries, custom AI silicon, memory (DRAM, HBM, NAND)
PackagingAdvanced packaging, substrates, assembly and test (OSAT)
EquipmentLithography, etch, deposition, metrology, test and burn-in
MaterialsSilicon wafers, critical minerals, bonding materials
ConnectivityOptical transceivers, co-packaged optics, fiber, switches
SitesFabs and data centers under construction

A niche list groups the companies in one layer, often across many countries, with their combined market value.

Like all research databases, it reflects the publisher's choices: which companies, which niches, how fresh.

Diagram: AI data center demand leads to Chips and memory; Chips and memory leads to Packaging and substrates; Packaging and substrates leads to Equipment and materials; AI data center demand leads to Optics and networking; AI data center demand leads to Sites: fabs, data centers, power; Chips and memory leads to Niche lists of companies; Packaging and substrates leads to Niche lists of companies; Equipment and materials leads to Niche lists of companies; Optics and networking leads to Niche lists of companies; Sites: fabs, data centers, power leads to Niche lists of companies.
Wide diagram: scroll sideways to see all of it.

See it in Gloom

Gloom screenshot: TBO, Companies tab
TBO, Companies tab: curated lists of companies by niche of the AI and semiconductor build-out, with a description, the number of companies and their combined market value. Historical example.

open ittype TBO. Tabs: Companies, Sites, Intel.

  1. All Companies: the whole database.
  2. HBM Memory Makers of high-bandwidth memory... 43: a niche list with 43 companies.
  3. Leading-Edge Logic Foundr... 6: very few companies can make the most advanced chips.
  4. Advanced Packaging (2.5D/...) 114: a crowded niche.
  5. MARKET (cut off at the right edge): the combined market value of each list.
  6. Sites lists physical projects; Intel lists dated research notes.

Practice and recap

Try it3 tasks
  1. Which niche in the screenshot has the fewest companies? (Leading-edge logic foundries, 6.)
  2. Why might a niche with few companies matter more in a shortage? (Fewer suppliers means more pricing power and more risk if one fails.)
  3. Name two layers an AI data center depends on besides chips. (Any two: packaging, equipment, materials, optics and networking, power.)
Common mistakes4 mistakes
  • Treating membership of a list as a measure of exposure; some companies earn little from that niche.
  • Forgetting the lists are curated, not exhaustive.
  • Ignoring the delay on intelligence notes.
  • Comparing combined market values across niches as if they measured the niche's revenue.
Check yourself3 questions
  1. What is a niche list?
  2. What is HBM?
  3. What do the Sites and Intel tabs show?
Answers
  1. A curated group of companies supplying one layer of the build-out.
  2. High-bandwidth memory: memory stacked next to AI chips for fast data access.
  3. Physical projects being built, and dated research notes.
Words in this lesson5 words
build-out
The construction of physical capacity: factories, data centers, power.
foundry
A factory that manufactures chips designed by others.
HBM
High-bandwidth memory used with AI chips.
OSAT
Outsourced semiconductor assembly and test.
substrate
The base layer a chip package is built on.

Educational material about reading market data, not investment advice.