The AI Race Is Becoming an Infrastructure Race
AI may be built in software, but scaling it is increasingly a physical-world problem. Every new model, agent, and AI application needs somewhere to run—and an infrastructure to connect them all.
At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, Ben Longmier, CEO of Ambrosia Energy, and Bill Thayer, SVP and Head of Datacenter Solutions at Bloom Energy, will take the Smart Systems Stage for a conversation titled "Where the AI Infrastructure Boom Is Creating Winners."
[Image: TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 panel featuring Ben Longmier and Bill Thayer | Image Credits: TechCrunch]
What the Panel Will Cover
This industry stage session will examine which constraints are creating durable business opportunities, where new categories are beginning to emerge, and what founders can build as AI moves further into the physical world.
Much of the AI conversation has focused on models, chips, and applications. But none of those can scale without power, cooling, land, and interconnectivity—the unglamorous layers that are quickly becoming the bottleneck for the entire industry.
As AI workloads grow more power-hungry in 2026, the companies solving energy and data center challenges are positioned to become the next wave of infrastructure winners.
Why This Conversation Matters
With AI demand outpacing traditional infrastructure buildout, the panel will explore:
- Which physical constraints are creating the most acute bottlenecks
- Where new business categories are forming around energy and data center solutions
- What founders and investors should watch as AI infrastructure becomes a competitive moat
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via TechCrunch AI