Artificial intelligence (AI) sector has emerged as an independent structural driver of demand for rare earth elements, and a third largest consumer, alongside clean energy and the military-industrial complex, according to Sprott Asset Management.
In an analysis, the investment firm said that five largest cloud data center operators - Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Apple - have committed approximately $400 billion in capital expenditures in 2025 alone. Capital expenditures increased by 72% over the year.
This is a scale comparable to entire national economies. And each of these data centers is loaded with permanent magnets made from rare earth metals, primarily neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), by 2030, data centers will consume approximately 3% of global rare earth elements used for magnet production. And this is just the beginning, as the intensity of AI infrastructure is increasing.
Alex Shishlo, Editor in Chief of the European Bureau, Rough&Polished
