01
Intelligence
Foundation models, agentic systems, specialized AI, inference software, and autonomous decision-making.
THE TRADECRAFT INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK
The Age of
Autonomy
Artificial intelligence is becoming an economic actor. But intelligence does not run in the abstract. It runs on chips, data centers, electricity, cooling systems, networks, metals, and machines.
01
THE CENTRAL IDEA
AI is moving from a tool to an economic actor.
Traditional software waits for a human to tell it what to do. Autonomous systems can increasingly perceive, reason, decide, transact, coordinate, and execute. That shift expands AI from a productivity tool into a new participant in the economy.
The Age of Autonomy is the long-wave technological transition created by the convergence of artificial intelligence, robotics, connected devices, decentralized infrastructure, and programmable money. Each layer reinforces the others—and each one depends on a much larger physical base than the market often appreciates.
THE AUTONOMY STACK
Intelligence sits at the top. Infrastructure carries the weight.
The investment opportunity is broader than model developers and semiconductor designers. The entire stack must scale.
02
Compute
GPUs, accelerators, servers, data centers, high-speed networking, storage, and cooling infrastructure.
03
Energy
Nuclear, natural gas, grid infrastructure, power equipment, generation capacity, and around-the-clock electricity.
04
Materials
Uranium, copper, rare earths, antimony, steel, and the strategic inputs required to build the physical system.
05
Machines
Robotics, autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, sensors, drones, and physical AI.
06
Economic Rails
Stablecoins, blockchain infrastructure, identity, settlement, and machine-native payment systems.
THE PHYSICAL BOTTLENECK
The AI race is becoming an energy race.
The International Energy Agency projects global data-center electricity use will roughly double by 2030 to about 945 terawatt-hours. AI is the largest driver of that growth, and in the United States data centers are expected to account for nearly half of electricity-demand growth through 2030.
This is not theoretical. Hyperscalers are signing agreements measured in decades and gigawatts because access to reliable power is becoming a competitive advantage.
Explore the Wildcatters strategy~945TWh projected global data-center electricity use in 2030
15%Approximate annual data-center electricity growth, 2024–2030
835MW capacity tied to Microsoft’s Crane nuclear agreement
20 yrsLength of Microsoft and Meta nuclear power agreements
THE EVIDENCE
Technology companies are securing power at infrastructure scale.
They are not generally buying entire operating nuclear plants outright. They are using long-term power agreements, direct investments, campus acquisitions, and development partnerships to secure dedicated supply.
MICROSOFT + CONSTELLATION
Restarting a retired nuclear reactor
Microsoft signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement that supports the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1—renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center. The agreement is tied to 835 MW of around-the-clock nuclear generation for Microsoft’s data-center needs.
Microsoft source →AMAZON + TALEN
Buying a nuclear-powered data-center campus
AWS acquired a 960 MW data-center campus adjacent to Talen Energy’s Susquehanna nuclear plant for $650 million, then expanded its long-term nuclear power relationship.
Talen source →GOOGLE + KAIROS POWER
Backing a fleet of advanced reactors
Google signed the first corporate agreement to purchase power from multiple Kairos small modular reactors, targeting up to 500 MW of advanced nuclear capacity.
Google source →META + CONSTELLATION
Securing 1.1 GW for two decades
Meta signed a 20-year agreement for the output of the Clinton Clean Energy Center, supporting continued operation and expansion of emissions-free nuclear supply.
Constellation source →AGE OF AUTONOMY
→
WILDCATTERS
Software creates the demand.
Energy and resources make it possible.
Wildcatters is the first Tradecraft Research strategy built from the Age of Autonomy thesis. It focuses on the companies that produce the energy, services, nuclear fuel, and strategic materials needed to build the next generation of digital and industrial infrastructure.
ENERGY SECURITYPOWER SCARCITYNUCLEAR REVIVALGRID BUILDOUTCRITICAL MINERALSRESHORING
View Wildcatters research
HOW WE INVEST THE THESIS
Follow the bottlenecks, not only the headlines.
Tradecraft Research looks for scarcity, pricing power, strategic relevance, and identifiable catalysts across the autonomy stack.
AI demand acceleratesCompute scarcitySemiconductors · networking · data centers
Compute scalesPower scarcityNuclear · natural gas · utilities · grid equipment
Infrastructure expandsMaterial scarcityUranium · copper · rare earths · antimony
Agents transactFinancial infrastructureStablecoins · blockchain rails · digital identity
Intelligence enters the worldPhysical autonomyRobotics · sensors · industrial automation
PRIMARY SOURCES