The Next Generation Metal: Silver’s Role in Tech and Energy

A new study looks at Ai demand!

An influential new report from the Oxford Institute closely examines silver’s burgeoning uses in today and looking forward calls silver “the next generational metal.”

Artificial intelligence data-center expansion is one of the factors fueling silver demand at the same time silver supplies are limited.  Owning silver therefore becomes a shrewd way to participate in the AI boom and yet retain silver’s historical monetary protection at a time than a supply crunch and surging industrial demand are fueling one of 2025’s most dramatic rallies, sending silver well past $60 an ounce for the first time ever.

“As digitalization and AI adoption accelerate, so too does the demand for critical materials involved in their applications — silver a critical one among them,” says the new report.

The Oxford Institute is affiliated with Oxford University.  It provides economic forecasting and modeling to companies and financial institutions.  The Next Generational Metal was produced in association with the Silver Institute:

Silver is poised to play a pivotal “next generation metal” role across industries critical to the green energy transition and digital transformation over the coming decade. Silver’s unique properties make it an indispensable component in their development and expansion. Perhaps its most important property is that it has the highest electrical conductivity of any metal. This property is critical for many industries; it enhances energy conversion in solar panels; accelerates data processing in data centers; and enables rapid charging and efficient power transmission in electric vehicles.

While the new report covers solar and photovoltaic silver demand (areas we have written about often) it is its findings about AI and data center growth that we wish to highlight:

Data centers are the backbone of the digital economy. They provide the physical infrastructure needed to run cloud computing services, store and manage data, and, increasingly, power artificial intelligence (AI) systems. As digitalization and AI adoption accelerate, so too does the demand for critical materials involved in their applications— silver a critical one among them. 

We estimate that total global IT power capacity grew by an estimated 53x, from 0.93 GW in 2000 to nearly 50 GW in 2025. Even in the absence of precise silver loading data, the link is clear: a 5,252% increase in IT power means more computing hardware and more demand for silver. 

Governments worldwide are prioritizing data centers as critical infrastructure, rolling out policies that streamline regulation and provide incentives such as grants, tax breaks, and fast-track approvals. Initiatives in the US, UK, EU, and China aim to attract large-scale private investment, reduce barriers, and expand capacity to meet rising AI and cloud demand—ultimately driving growth in materials like silver.

In short, the silver outlook shines brighter than ever.  The dynamic growth of AI electronics and the simultaneous growth in robotics, vehicles, and other computing needs, all demand components that rely on the unique properties of silver.