AI Supply Chain Map
Who supplies whom across the AI build-out. Every arrow is a real input dependency. Companion: Semiconductor Supply Chain, The AI Value Chain, Knowledge Graph.
The Master Flow#
TOOLS FOUNDRY SILICON SYSTEMS/CLOUD POWER
───── ─────── ─────── ───────────── ─────
ASML (npc) ┐
AMAT (npc) ├──▶ TSMC ──┬──▶ NVIDIA (GPU) ──┐
Lam (npc) ┘ ├──▶ Marvell Technology (optics/ASIC) ─┤
Disco Corporation ──────┤ Micron Technology (HBM) ──────────┼──▶ Hyperscalers ──▶ draw power from
(dicing/grinding, │ │ │ Microsoft Constellation Energy
HBM + packaging) │ │ (HBM bonded to GPU via │ Amazon Vistra
│ │ packaging tools) │ Alphabet
└──▶ hyperscaler custom silicon ───────────┘ Meta Platforms
(Trainium/Maia/TPU/MTIA, co-designed
with Marvell/Broadcom)
(npc = not a PCA SOF holding, shown for context)
Dependency Table (supplier → customer)#
| Supplier (holding) | Supplies | Customer (holding) | |, -|, -|, -| | Disco Corporation | Dicing/grinding tools (HBM stacking, advanced packaging) | TSMC, Micron Technology, OSATs | | TSMC | Leading-edge wafer fabrication | NVIDIA, Marvell Technology, Micron Technology (some), Amazon/Microsoft/Alphabet/Meta Platforms (custom silicon) | | Micron Technology | HBM + server DRAM | NVIDIA, hyperscalers | | NVIDIA | GPUs + networking systems | Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms (+ neoclouds) | | Marvell Technology | Optical DSPs, custom ASICs, switching | Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, NVIDIA ecosystem | | Constellation Energy / Vistra | Electricity (clean/firm baseload) | Hyperscaler datacentres | | Snowflake / Datadog / CrowdStrike / Zscaler | Data/observability/security software | Run on + sold to enterprises using hyperscaler clouds |
The Critical Chokepoints (single points of dependency)#
- TSMC: the supply-chain chokepoint. Nearly every AI chip passes through it. → Taiwan Strait Risk.
- CoWoS advanced packaging (at TSMC), gates NVIDIA GPU output; enabled by Disco Corporation tools.
- HBM (Micron Technology / SK Hynix / Samsung), only 3 suppliers; sold out.
- ASML EUV (not held), TSMC's own upstream chokepoint; a systemic dependency.
- Power (Constellation Energy / Vistra), the newest chokepoint; clean firm baseload is scarce.
Why The Fund Owns The Whole Chain#
By holding tools → foundry → silicon → power → cloud, PCA SOF captures margin at every dependency. A constraint at any node (CoWoS, HBM, power) becomes pricing power for a holding the fund already owns. This is the structural logic of The AI Value Chain, and the source of the correlation risk in Overlap & Diversification Map.
Hyperscalers: Customers And Competitors Of Their Suppliers#
The four hyperscalers (Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms) are simultaneously:
- Customers of NVIDIA, Micron Technology, Marvell Technology, TSMC, + power.
- Competitors to NVIDIA (via custom silicon built with Marvell Technology/Broadcom on TSMC).
This tension is the subject of Competitor NVIDIA vs Custom Silicon + a key reason the fund owns Marvell Technology (it wins either way).
Linked Notes#
- Semiconductor Supply Chain · The AI Value Chain · AI Ecosystem Map · Competitor NVIDIA vs Custom Silicon
- Holdings: Disco Corporation · TSMC · NVIDIA · Micron Technology · Marvell Technology · Constellation Energy · Vistra · the hyperscalers
- Risk: Taiwan Strait Risk · AI Capex Cycle Risk · Overlap & Diversification Map · Knowledge Graph