Morgan Stanley has identified four major investment themes emerging from its inaugural Thematics Conference, with AI infrastructure spending and energy constraints taking center stage as critical factors shaping market dynamics.
AI Capex and the Energy Challenge: The dominant force in current markets remains the AI capital expenditure cycle, but Morgan Stanley warns that investors may be underestimating a significant roadblock: datacenter energy demands. “We believe investors may be under-appreciating the challenges to providing high-quality power to data centers,” the bank stated in its client note. This energy bottleneck could constrain AI growth, making the energy build-out trade a crucial next-generation AI play. Morgan Stanley specifically highlighted Bloom Energy (BE) and Solaris Energy (SEI) as companies well-positioned to capitalize on this infrastructure trend.
Longevity Economics: The second major theme focuses on demographic shifts, as people live and work longer. The 60+ population now controls one-third of global buying power, creating substantial market opportunities. Morgan Stanley notes that older cohorts are becoming increasingly tech-savvy and spending more on lifestyle products. “Keeping older adults engaged in the workforce and consumer economy can help offset growth pressures from simultaneous retirements,” the report explained, while technology narrows the gap between lifespan and health-span.
Tokenized Finance: The third trend involves blockchain-based tokenization, which promises to modernize financial infrastructure by allowing assets to be digitalized and traded on distributed ledgers. Asset managers are already launching digital money funds on blockchains, while alternative asset managers experiment with distributing private market funds through this technology. This development could democratize private markets and expand borrowing opportunities.
Brain-Computer Interfaces: The final theme highlights the emerging BCI industry, positioned at the intersection of healthcare, AI, and advanced manufacturing. Despite being in early stages, patient demand is strong—Neuralink reportedly has a 10,000-person waitlist. Morgan Stanley projects this sector will eventually reach tens of billions in value, representing a “long-cycle growth opportunity with profound societal impact.”
Key Quotes
We believe investors may be under-appreciating the challenges to providing high-quality power to data centers
Morgan Stanley’s warning in its client note highlights a critical infrastructure constraint that could limit AI growth. This statement signals that energy availability, not just computing power or algorithms, may become the determining factor in AI expansion.
This theme sits at the intersection of healthcare, AI, and advanced manufacturing, signaling a long-cycle growth opportunity with profound societal impact
Morgan Stanley’s assessment of brain-computer interfaces positions this emerging technology as a multi-decade investment opportunity. The reference to Neuralink’s 10,000-person waitlist demonstrates substantial consumer demand even in the technology’s infancy.
Longevity is creating a large and under-recognized market opportunity as the 60+ population hold one-third of global buying power
This observation from Morgan Stanley’s report connects demographic trends with technology adoption, suggesting that AI and digital tools are enabling older populations to remain economically active longer, creating new market dynamics.
Our Take
Morgan Stanley’s analysis reveals a maturing understanding of the AI investment landscape. The focus on energy constraints is particularly astute—datacenters require massive, reliable power supplies, and the grid infrastructure in many regions simply wasn’t built for this demand. This creates a potential chokepoint that could slow AI deployment regardless of algorithmic advances. The bank’s positioning of energy companies as AI plays represents sophisticated thinking beyond obvious semiconductor investments. Meanwhile, the inclusion of brain-computer interfaces alongside established themes shows how AI is enabling previously science-fiction technologies to become investable realities. The Neuralink waitlist data provides concrete evidence of demand. What’s most striking is how these themes interconnect: AI drives datacenter demand, which requires energy solutions, while AI advances also enable BCIs and tokenized finance. This suggests we’re seeing the emergence of an AI-enabled technology ecosystem rather than isolated innovations.
Why This Matters
This Morgan Stanley analysis is significant because it identifies energy infrastructure as the critical bottleneck that could determine whether the AI boom continues or stalls. While markets have focused heavily on AI software and chip companies, the bank’s warning about datacenter power supply highlights a potentially underpriced risk that could reshape investment strategies. The emphasis on energy build-out companies suggests a shift in the AI investment narrative from pure technology plays to enabling infrastructure.
The inclusion of brain-computer interfaces as a major theme underscores how AI is expanding beyond software into hardware that directly interfaces with human biology. With Neuralink’s substantial waitlist, this represents a convergence of AI, healthcare, and neurotechnology that could create entirely new markets. For businesses and investors, these themes signal that AI’s impact extends far beyond chatbots and automation—it’s driving fundamental changes in energy infrastructure, financial systems, and human-computer interaction. Companies that solve the energy challenge or successfully commercialize BCIs could become the next generation of AI winners.