New technologies are changing the world at a fast pace, and with every big invention comes a new need for special materials. Today, generative AI is the technology gaining the most attention. It is used for writing, creating images, analyzing information, and helping people work faster. But behind all the excitement, there is a quiet but growing issue: AI and other modern inventions depend on minerals and materials that are not easy to find.
This pattern is not new. Earlier technologies followed the same path. When the first cars were introduced in the early 1900s, only a few people owned them. But everything changed when Henry Ford created the assembly line and made cars cheaper. More families could afford to buy a car, and this new freedom led people to move farther from cities.
Suburbs grew, roads expanded, and commuting became a normal part of life. As cars became more common, people wanted lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles. This demand pushed car makers to look for new types of steel and special minerals like molybdenum and vanadium. These minerals were not found everywhere, so the car industry soon depended on imports. This created trade tensions and showed how new technology can shape global relationships.
A similar story unfolded with cell phones. The first ones were big, heavy, and expensive. Only a few people used them. But when the flip phone arrived, mobile phones became easier to carry and more affordable. The real transformation came in 2007, when the smartphone appeared. It was more than a phone. It became a tool for communication, navigation, entertainment, and social connection. Today almost every adult owns a smartphone, and many people feel anxious when they don’t have one with them.
Smartphones contain many different elements. In fact, they use nearly three-quarters of the stable elements on the periodic table. These include rare minerals that are essential for displays, batteries, cameras, and speakers. Because only a few countries mine these materials, they gain special power.
For example, China controls most of the world’s rare earth elements. In 2025, it even stopped exporting rare earth magnets in response to U.S. tariffs, showing how easily access to these minerals can affect international relations.
AI is now entering the same cycle. As AI tools become more common, they will create new industries and change how people live and work. All these changes will require more advanced materials.
Unlike cars or phones, which took decades to develop, AI is moving much faster. The pressure to find minerals and strengthen supply chains is growing quickly.
The rise of AI and other technologies shows that innovation is not just about ideas. It is also about the materials that make these ideas possible. As demand increases, countries will have to rethink how they mine, trade, and manage these critical resources.
As AI technology evolves rapidly, entities like Core AI Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CHAI) could see variations in the costs of the hardware and software that they rely on to deliver their products to customers.
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