Key Takeaways
- AI Revolution & Infrastructure Growth – Generative AI drives transformative innovation, demanding advanced infrastructure like chips, data centers, and energy, with the global AI infrastructure market projected to increase to $395 billion by 2030.
- AI’s Energy Demand – Soaring AI energy needs to push technology firms toward nuclear power; uranium prices surged 233% since 20191 due to rising demand and geopolitical supply challenges.
- MTRX’s Investment Opportunity – MTRX targets AI infrastructure, diversifying exposure to electric utilities, data center equipment manufacturing, and energy commodities like uranium and copper, positioning investors for long-term growth in AI’s backbone.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is driving a profound shift in computing, comparable to the disruptive impacts of the internet or mobile computing revolutions. AI builds on the disruption caused by the internet, leveraging widely accessible data and networks to automate and enhance decision-making processes. This blog takes a look at the demands of AI and how a new ETF from Global X positions investors to potentially get in early on the infrastructure and energy side of this growing sector.
AI developers are currently focused on a narrow subset of applications known as Generative AI:
- Expected to accelerate innovation, initially automating a wide array of manual and laborious tasks, as well as routine creative functions.
- This integration of AI could add nearly US$16 trillion to global GDP by 2030.
- Expected to be a US$1.3 trillion business by 2032.
As mentions of AI in U.S. company earnings calls reached a record high, Chinese AI company DeepSeek prompted a stock sell-off in January 2025 as it emerged that the company’s AI service uses less data and costs a fraction of incumbent AI services.
For Generative AI to fully realize its potential, infrastructure development is critical. This includes chips and ancillary hardware, construction and operation of large-scale data centres, software infrastructure to support AI workloads, and applications designed to work natively using AI.
Last year, the combined capital expenditure of Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta into AI was US$246 billion in 2024 – up 63% from 2023 – and spending for 2025 could exceed US$320 billion.
AI Infrastructure: Data Centres
The rapid growth in digital services, cloud computing, AI and 5G is driving a persistent surge in demand for data center capacity as hyperscalers and corporations plan to expand their digital infrastructure.
Despite record construction activity, the key U.S. data center market will struggle to keep pace with demand, leading to higher utilization rates in existing facilities and tighter vacancy rates, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE. CBRE expects these conditions to persist in 2025.
The sheer scale of data center development in 2025 will result in a 100+ megawatt (MW) project being the new norm.
This infrastructure buildout to enable the shift to the new “Automation Age” will likely unfold in phases, driven by advancements in several interdependent areas:
- Efficient Chip Design: AI chips are expensive and power-hungry. Next-gen chips must cut costs, optimize workloads, and improve energy efficiency.
- Large-Scale Data Centers: Advancing AI chips and hardware drives the growth of data centers, which are essential for training complex models and real-time applications.
- Widespread Access to AI Devices: On-device AI in smartphones, wearables, and the Internet of Things (IoT) accelerates adoption, enabling real-time intelligence and new use cases.
- Upgraded Cellular Networks: Advanced cellular networks, such as 5G and beyond, are foundational to AI’s scalability. These networks are critical to delivering the low latency and high bandwidth required for real-time AI processing and interactive experiences.
AI’s Demand For Energy
“AI’s rapid expansion is driving an unprecedented surge in electricity demand. Industry forecasts suggest that by 2030, data centers—many of which power AI applications—could consume as much as 8% of total U.S. electricity, up from just 3% in 20222,” says Alex Smahtin, Portfolio Manager and Senior Analyst, Investment Management at Global X.
It’s estimated that a single ChatGPT query uses enough energy to power a lightbulb for 20 minutes.
“As AI adoption accelerates, one of the major beneficiaries will be the companies that provide the power and materials needed for its operation,” Global X’s Smahtin adds.
Some Big Tech firms have turned to nuclear energy to power their cloud computing and AI services:
- Microsoft entered an agreement with Constellation Energy – a constituent within MTRX – in September 2024 to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant to support the energy needs of Microsoft’s data centers.
- Google signed a deal with Kairos Power in late 2024 to buy 500 megawatts of electricity from seven small modular reactors (SMRs) that have yet to be built. The prior year, the company signed a deal for geothermal energy to power its data centres in Nevada.
- Amazon was one of the parties investing US$500 million in nuclear firm X Energy and agreed to support an initial 320-megawatt project with Energy Northwest in Washington State, where Microsoft is headquartered.
A report from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory shows that power demand from data centres is estimated to grow by as much as 12% by 2028, and power demand in Europe from data centres is expected to triple, per McKinsey.
Nuclear energy is gaining importance, with supply constraints already challenging the uranium market. The Fukushima disaster depressed uranium commodity markets, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a price surge and has seen Western nations scramble to secure their energy supply channels and revisit nuclear power as an energy source.
Since 2019, the price of the metallic element used as a nuclear fuel has risen by 233%, which you can see here:
With looming demand for energy and nuclear power a likely new source – not just for data centres but also countries securing their energy supply chains in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine – there is currently not enough uranium to meet rising demand, as you can see here:
With rising demand from data centres, increasing nuclear adoption, and supply constraints, the uranium market is at a turning point. So, what’s next for uranium in 2025?
Find out in this YouTube video that features Global X Research Analyst Brooke Thackray and Executive Vice President, Head of Investment Management and Strategy Chris McHaney.
MTRX: Powering AI
While other investment strategies focused on AI provide exposure to the companies involved in the development and utilization of AI-related hardware and software, Global X Investments Canada Inc. (Global X) has launched the Global X Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Index ETF (MTRX), which focuses on the energy infrastructure and components critical to AI including electronic manufacturers and electric utility providers as well as suppliers of energy commodities such as uranium.
“While the large language models, like ChatGPT, Claude or DeepSeek, have driven the global conversation about AI, it’s important to remember that none of this would be possible without traditional electronic components, like circuits, transistors and diodes,” Smahtin, adds.
MTRX seeks to replicate, to the extent possible and net of expenses, the performance of the Mirae Asset AI Infrastructure CAD Index, designed to provide exposure to publicly listed global companies involved in supporting the infrastructure requirements arising from AI operations.
“Similar to owning the ‘picks and shovels’ during the gold rush, we believe that MTRX offers Canadian investors the opportunity to focus on the long-term development and operation of AI, rather than the leading application,” Global X’s Smahtin says.
In addition, MTRX provides exposure to copper and uranium mining companies. While copper is a traditional and key metal for electrical utility construction, the addition of uranium to MTRX’s exposure reflects a growing global consensus that nuclear power will be necessary to power the growing energy demands of future AI development.
Index’s Sector Focus
| Select | Sub-theme | Identified Sub-Categories |
| Top 10 | Power and Energy Infrastructure | Electric Utilities & Infrastructure |
| Energy Management & Optimization | ||
| Top 10 | Data Centre Infrastructure | Data Centre Operations |
| Thermal Management | ||
| Top 10 (5 Each) | Raw Materials and Energy Source | Copper |
| Uranium |
Source: Global X
So why consider MTRX?
Growth Potential
The global AI infrastructure market, which underpins the entire AI revolution, is poised for substantial growth in the coming years and is projected to increase to $395 billion by 2030 at a compound growth rate of 19.4% per year from 2024.
Backbone of AI
As AI continues to transform industries and drive innovation, the companies providing the essential infrastructure are well-positioned to capitalize on this long-term growth trend.
Value-Chain Diversification
Investing in MTRX offers exposure across the AI value chain, potentially reducing risk and capturing opportunities at various stages of AI development and adoption.
Here’s a look at how the Mirae Asset AI Infrastructure CAD Index has been performing since its inception in 2019:
These are the top five holdings within the index:
| Security | Country | Sector | Percentage % |
| Antofagasta | GB | Materials | 5.41% |
| Constellation Energy | US | Utilities | 5.24% |
| Arista Networks | US | IT | 5.05% |
| Southern Copper | US | Materials | 5.03% |
| GE Verona | US | Industrials | 5.02% |
Source: Mirae Asset Global Indices as at February 3, 2025.
MTRX isn’t picking AI titans. It’s holding the names that will power the AI revolution. Are you ready to join in?
Related ETFs
MTRX – Global X Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Index ETF
AIGO – Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology Index ETF
SOURCES
1 Source: Bloomberg price data, June 11, 2019 to June 11, 2024.
2 Source: Goldman Sachs as at April 28, 2024, “AI, data centers and the coming US power demand surge”.
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Published February 20, 2025.