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The AI Semiconductor Waterfall: $34M of Silicon Per MW of Compute

3 September 2026 · 50 min read
AI Semiconductor Waterfall Sankey: 1 MW → 8.33 racks / 600 GPUs → four waterfalls (compute $23M, storage $9M, network $1.94M, power $0.3M) → six supplier baskets → $34.24M total
The Sankey view: 1 MW of installed AI compute cascades through 8.33 racks, 600 GPUs, and four semiconductor waterfalls into approximately $34.2M of semiconductor-bearing equipment value at Blackwell/GB200 NVL72 reference architecture.
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    Executive with 20+ years in AI data centre power, industrial technology, automation and control, and energy infrastructure. Prior operating roles at Eaton, Honeywell, Cisco, and BCG..

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