Physical Layer of AI v1 · static thesis map

The Physical Layer isn't a metaphor.

Layers

Every AI dollar passes through real reactors, real fabs, real data centers, real photonic foundries, real launchpads. Here's the address book — five layers, eighteen cards, every fact pulled from public 10-Ks and investor decks.

Layer 1 · Power

Electrons into the racks.

16.7% of book in nuclear + grid + SMR + crypto-pivot
CEG Core · 15 sh
Constellation Energy

21 reactors across PJM + NY/NJ. Largest US nuclear operator. Direct PPAs locked with Microsoft (Three Mile Island restart) + Amazon (Susquehanna). Three Mile Island Unit 1 targeted online 2028 for MSFT data centers.

HQ Baltimore, MD
Three Mile Island Unit 1 · Londonderry Twp, PA
Susquehanna · Salem Twp, PA
Calvert Cliffs · Lusby, MD
Byron · Byron, IL
Braidwood · Braceville, IL
VST Core · 15 sh
Vistra Corp

~40 GW total fleet: gas + 6.4 GW Comanche Peak nuclear + battery storage. ERCOT (Texas) anchor. Acquired Energy Harbor March 2024 — added 4 nuclear reactors + 4,000 MW to Pennsylvania/Ohio fleet. Lock-in PPAs being negotiated with hyperscalers in 2026.

HQ Irving, TX
Comanche Peak nuclear · Glen Rose, TX
Beaver Valley · Shippingport, PA (ex-EH)
Davis-Besse · Oak Harbor, OH (ex-EH)
Perry · North Perry, OH (ex-EH)
OKLO Core · 10 sh
Oklo Inc — small modular reactors

Aurora powerhouse design, 15-50 MWe per unit. NRC application active. Idaho National Laboratory demo site approved. Sam Altman backed. Nuclear fuel deal with NVIDIA + Los Alamos confirmed Apr 23, 2026.

HQ Santa Clara, CA
Demo site: Idaho National Lab, Idaho Falls, ID
Pre-revenue · NRC certification pending
IREN Core · 25 sh
IREN Limited (formerly Iris Energy)

BTC mine → AI compute pivot. 2,910 MW grid-connected capacity contracted. Childress, TX site is 1,400 MW. Locked $9.7B Microsoft deal for AI compute capacity. Green-power-only operations.

HQ Sydney, Australia
Childress, TX (1,400 MW)
Prince George, BC, Canada (160 MW)
Mackenzie, BC, Canada (50 MW)
Sweetwater, TX (planned 1,400 MW)
Layer 2 · Compute & Memory

Where the silicon gets etched.

31.9% of book in HBM + custom ASIC + GPU cloud + edge silicon
MU Core · 17 sh
Micron Technology — HBM3E memory

HBM3E sold out through 2026. One of three suppliers globally (Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix). Revenue +196% YoY in latest quarter. Q3 FY2026 prints June 25. Idaho fab (Boise) anchors US production; NY mega-fab in Clay/Onondaga (CHIPS Act funded, $100B over 20 years).

HQ Boise, ID
Idaho fab · Boise, ID
NY mega-fab · Clay, NY (under construction)
Hiroshima fab · Japan
Manassas fab · Manassas, VA
Singapore + Taiwan packaging
AVGO Core · 10 sh
Broadcom — custom ASICs

Custom AI silicon for Google TPU + Meta MTIA. $73B backlog. 90% Ethernet switch share. Fabless — tapes out at TSMC. VMware integration delivering ~$23B/yr software revenue. Q2 FY2026 prints June 12.

HQ Palo Alto, CA
Fabrication: TSMC Hsinchu + Tainan, Taiwan
Wireless silicon: Fort Collins, CO
VMware: Palo Alto + Bangalore
Storage IP: Longmont, CO
NBIS Core · 20 sh
Nebius Group — AI factory landlord

Ex-Yandex GPU cloud, Nvidia-backed. 3.0 GW contracted power (Feb), targeting 3.5+ GW. $19B Microsoft + $3B Meta deals locked. Finland Mäntsälä AI factory is the flagship. Q1 2026 prints Wednesday April 29 AMC. Capex guide $16-20B over 2026.

HQ Amsterdam, Netherlands
Mäntsälä AI factory · Finland (flagship)
Kansas City, KS (US flagship under construction)
Paris-region data center
Tel Aviv R&D
ON Core · 10 sh
ON Semiconductor — edge silicon + SiC power

SiC power semis for EV + AI data center power-delivery. Hudson, NH + Roznov, Czech Republic SiC fabs. Image sensors anchor automotive ADAS. Long-supply agreements with Tesla + Mercedes.

HQ Phoenix, AZ
SiC fab · Hudson, NH
SiC fab · Roznov, Czech Republic
Image sensor fab · Pocatello, ID
Test + assembly · Manila + Penang
MBLY Core · 200 sh
Mobileye — autonomy compute (Intel-controlled)

EyeQ family of vision-perception chips for ADAS. Intel still ~88% owner post-IPO. Manufactured at Intel + TSMC. Anchors major auto OEMs (BMW, VW, Ford, GM). REM mapping fleet: 1M+ data-collection vehicles.

HQ Jerusalem, Israel
R&D · Tel Aviv + Detroit
Fabrication via Intel + TSMC
Test fleet operations · Munich + Tokyo
Layer 3 · Data Center Infrastructure

Networking, security, software.

10.6% of book in switch silicon + security + workflow software
ANET Core · 5 sh
Arista Networks — AI Ethernet switching

800G Ethernet dominance in every hyperscaler GPU rack. Q1 2026 AI revenue: $3.25B run-rate. EOS software stack locks customers. Designs in Santa Clara, contracts manufacturing through Foxconn + others.

HQ Santa Clara, CA
R&D · Santa Clara + Vancouver + Pune
Manufacturing: Foxconn + Sanmina (contract)
PANW Core · 20 sh
Palo Alto Networks — security platform

Cortex XSIAM platform consolidating SOAR + SIEM + EDR. Cloud-delivered. Q3 FY2026 prints May 20. Platformization strategy is the moat — fewer vendors, deeper integration.

HQ Santa Clara, CA
R&D · Santa Clara + Tel Aviv + Bangalore
Globally distributed cloud delivery
NOW Core · 15 sh
ServiceNow — enterprise AI workflow

Now Platform → ITSM/ITOM dominance. $1.5B AI commit guide for 2026 (raised 50%). cRPO $12.64B (+22.5%), RPO $27.7B (+25%). Q1 print Apr 22 beat-and-raised on subscription rev. Iran-related on-prem deal slips trimmed 75bps from sub revenue.

HQ Santa Clara, CA
R&D · Santa Clara + San Diego + Hyderabad
EMEA HQ · Staines-upon-Thames, UK
Multi-tenant SaaS via AWS + Azure
Layer 4 · Photonics & Quantum (NEW 2026-04-25)

Optical interconnect + quantum substrate.

22.3% of book — promoted from frontier to formal infrastructure layer
POET Frontier · 200 sh
POET Technologies — silicon photonics interposer

Optical Interposer platform integrates lasers + waveguides + electronics on a single die. CFO/CTO leaked Marvell + Celestial AI purchase order April 22 — stock +29% that day. Manufacturing partnership with Globetronics (Penang) for high-volume.

HQ Toronto, Canada
R&D + design · Allentown, PA
Manufacturing JV · Singapore (Super Photonics Xiamen — China JV)
Packaging · Penang, Malaysia (Globetronics)
XNDU Frontier · 250 sh
Xanadu Quantum Technologies — photonic quantum compute

Borealis photonic-quantum machine: 216-mode squeezed-light architecture, room-temperature ops. Nvidia-Ising photonic-quantum collaboration confirmed April 15. No cryogenics required — fundamentally different from IonQ + Rigetti. Quinn's +292% position; trimmed 333→250 at $25.22.

HQ Toronto, Canada
Quantum lab · Coquitlam, BC, Canada
Customers: DARPA + Lockheed + AMD + Nvidia
Cloud platform: Strawberry Fields + PennyLane
LWLG Frontier · 50 sh
Lightwave Logic — polymer EO modulators

Perkinamine® electro-optic polymer for high-speed optical modulators. IP-licensing + materials supply model. Co-development partnerships with Polariton + others. Englewood, CO facility — small but the polymer chemistry is the moat.

HQ Englewood, CO
Material synthesis + characterization · Englewood, CO
Customer integration partnerships (undisclosed)
LPTH Frontier · 30 sh
LightPath Technologies — molded infrared optics

Molded chalcogenide + Black Diamond™ glasses for IR optics. Acquired Visimid Technologies (2023) — adds thermal-imaging design capability. Defense + transceiver customers; small float, rallied 9% Apr 24 with no company news (cohort move).

HQ Orlando, FL
Manufacturing · Orlando, FL
Manufacturing · Riga, Latvia (acquired ISP Optics)
Visimid (thermal imaging) · Plano, TX
Layer 5 · Off-World Adjacency

Launchpads + direct-to-cell satellites.

5.0% of book — adjacent infrastructure to the AI stack
RKLB Frontier · 20 sh
Rocket Lab — launch + space systems

Electron rocket: ~70 successful launches. Neutron rocket medium-lift targeted late 2026 first flight. Vertically integrated — Photon satellite bus, components, launch services. Direct competitor to SpaceX in the small-to-medium lift category.

HQ Long Beach, CA
Launch Complex 1 · Mahia Peninsula, NZ
Launch Complex 2 · Wallops Island, VA
Neutron production · Stennis, MS
Photon manufacturing · Long Beach, CA + Auckland, NZ
ASTS Frontier · 15 sh
AST SpaceMobile — direct-to-cell satellites

BlueBird satellites: largest commercial communications arrays in low-Earth orbit (~64 sq m). Direct-to-standard-cellphone link without ground stations. Carrier deals with AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Rakuten. Manufacturing flagship in Midland, TX.

HQ Midland, TX
Satellite manufacturing · Midland, TX
R&D + ground systems · Maryland + Spain
Launch partners: SpaceX Falcon 9 + ISRO + Blue Origin
v1 scope · curated from public sources. Facility addresses, fleet sizes, and contract counterparties above are taken from company 10-Ks, investor presentations, regulatory filings, and recent press releases (Apr 2026). Numbers can move; check the underlying filings before acting on anything specific. Live grid utilization, photonic patent velocity, fab cycle status, and orbital mechanics will land in v2 (Tier C roadmap) when proper data partnerships are in place — we won't ship stale scrapes and call them intelligence.
Related
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