WASHINGTON, July 7 — The copper that powers America’s artificial intelligence revolution is becoming a target for thieves. Each AI data center requires up to 50,000 pounds of copper, a staggering figure when compared to the 10,000 pounds used in a traditional data center. The metal is essential, woven into power cables, grounding systems, and cooling infrastructure, chosen for its high conductivity.
The reason for the massive increase is simple: AI servers consume 10 to 20 times more power than standard servers, with a single AI rack drawing up to 100 kilowatts. The U.S. Department of Energy projects that by 2030, AI data centers will consume 9% of all electricity in the country.
That kind of demand means a lot of copper, and a lot of opportunity for those willing to steal it.
Night Raids on the Build Sites
The thefts are happening at construction sites, often under the cover of darkness. Thieves cut through fences and use trucks to haul away spools of copper wire. The cost is not just the material itself.
When copper is stolen from a construction site, the project can be delayed by four to six weeks, and the replacement and security measures can cost between $500,000 and $2 million. For the companies racing to build out the infrastructure for the next generation of AI, these are not minor setbacks.
A delay of a month or more can ripple through supply chains and deployment schedules, pushing back the arrival of new capabilities for the businesses and researchers waiting on them.
The Human Side of the Supply Chain
Behind the numbers are the people on the ground. The construction crews who arrive in the morning to find a fence cut and a spool of copper gone. The security teams hired to patrol sites through the night.
The project managers who have to reorder materials and explain to investors why a facility that was supposed to be online in six months will now take eight. The copper itself is a workhorse material.
It is not glamorous, but without it, the high-powered servers that run the most advanced AI models cannot function. The cooling systems that keep those servers from overheating depend on it. The grounding systems that protect the equipment from electrical surges rely on it.
What this means for the broader push toward AI is a new vulnerability. The industry has focused on chip shortages, energy costs, and regulatory hurdles.
Copper theft adds a different kind of risk, one that plays out in the dark, on construction sites, far from the clean rooms where the servers are installed. As the U.S. Department of Energy’s projections make clear, the demand for electricity from AI data centers is only going to grow. That means more data centers, more copper, and more targets for thieves.
The question for the industry is whether the security measures can keep pace with the expansion.
