Four thematics blooming this spring

Nvidia lends a hand to robotics firms, data centres become hot commodities, and the EU signs agreements to extract lithium. Join us in this month’s “Next Big Theme” as we explore recent news and developments in artificial intelligence, battery technology, infrastructure development, and more.

Robotics & Artificial Intelligence

Humanoid Robot Development Gains Momentum

In an effort to simplify humanoid robot development, Nvidia is providing top robot manufacturers, AI model developers, and software makers with a suite of services, models, and computing platforms. These offerings include NVIDIA NIM microservers and frameworks for robot simulation and learning, the NVIDIA OSMO orchestration service for multi-stage robotics workloads, and an AI- and simulation-enabled teleoperation workflow(1) NIM microservices, powered by NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) inference software, feature pre-built containers that reduce deployment times from weeks to minutes and enhance simulation workflows for generative physical AI(2) NVIDIA OSMO, a cloud-native managed service, simplifies complex robotics development workflows across distributed computing resources, reducing deployment and development cycles from months to days. It allows users to manage tasks such as generating synthetic data, training models, conducting reinforcement learning, and implementing software-in-the-loop testing at scale for humanoids(3) Additionally, NVIDIA launched a humanoid robot developer program, offering early access to these latest releases, as well as NVIDIA Isaac Sim and Lab, Jetson Thor, and Project GR00T humanoid foundation models. Boston Dynamics, ByteDance, Figure AI, and 1x are among the first to join the early access program(4).

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Global X ROBO Global Robotics & Automation ETF (ROBO)

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Digital Infrastructure

Cloud Providers, AI Firms Drive Robust Data Centre Rental Rate Growth

Existing data centers are renting at premium prices, underscoring the growing demand and capacity crunch. North American data centre vacancy rates have reached new lows across various major markets. Chicago led again with the biggest year-over-year (YoY) decrease to 2.4% from 6.7% during Q1 2024(5) Northern Virginia’s vacancy rates also declined sharply, dropping to 0.9% from 1.8% the year prior, despite an 18% YoY increase in inventory(6) Singapore, the world’s most power-constrained market, has only 7.2 megawatts (MW) of available capacity and a near record-low 1% vacancy rate(7) As a result of these supply shortages and high demand, North American data centre pricing is significantly accelerating. Average asking rates for a typical 250-500 kilowatt (kW) requirement across all four featured North American markets surged by 20% YoY in Q1, the highest global increase.(8) For 2024, rental rates for U.S. data centers are expected to grow by 15% YoY.(9)

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Global X Artificial Intelligence ETF (GXAI)

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Lithium & Battery Technology

European Nations Look to Advance Lithium & Solid-State Battery Production

The European Union (EU), Germany, and Serbia signed tentative agreements for lithium excavation and EV battery manufacturing in Serbia.(10) These agreements aim to reduce the EU’s dependency on China’s lithium supply chain. If the deals are finalised, Serbia could host one of Europe’s largest lithium mines and become the first European country to manage an entire EV supply chain, potentially contributing 4% of its 2023 gross domestic product (GDP).(11) Carmakers Stellantis and Mercedes-Benz are among the signatories of the deals. In the battery space, Volkswagen’s PowerCo and Quantumscape agreed to ramp up mass production of Quantumscape’s solid-state battery technology.(12) This agreement allows PowerCo to manufacture up to 40 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year, with an option to extend to 80GWh per year, which enough to power approximately 1 million EVs annually.(13) Solid-state batteries are considered the next generation of EV batteries due to their enhanced safety, higher ranges, and faster charging capabilities.

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Global X Battery Tech and Lithium ETF (ACDC)

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US Infrastructure

New York and Washington State Get Funding Boost for Critical Infrastructure Upgrade

New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced in July more than $484 million in funding for 216 critical infrastructure projects across the state. The funding will go towards projects focused on rehabilitating and replacing bridges and culverts, including hardening existing infrastructure to reduce risks from severe weather events and to enhance the overall safety and sustainability of New York’s transportation infrastructure.(14) The funding will be provided through the state’s BRIDGE NY initiative, which is supported by the federal government’s Bridge Formula Program. The funding ads to the $1.23 billion previously awarded though BRIDGE NY.(15) In Washington State, the King Country Wastewater Treatment Division selected Jacob’s Solutions for an $800M infrastructure upgrade project at the South Treatment Plant in Renton, where it will lead program management and consulting services.(16) The South Treatment Plant is one of the primary plants that services King County, which includes Seattle, and treats an average of 90 million gallons of wastewater per day.(17)

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Global X US Infrastructure Development ETF (PAVE)

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