The AI factory power chain, before and after 800 VDC

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800 V DC changes seven of the nine steps between the grid and the GPU. Flip the switch, hover a step, click for the companies.

Grid-to-chip efficiency
82.0%87.4%
AC baseline, SemiAnalysis modelWith SSTs. About 70 MW saved per GW of IT
Current into a 600 kW rack
12,500 A750 A
At 48 VAt 800 V, about 16x less
Power conversion stages
74
SemiAnalysis count: transformer, UPS (2), PSU (2), IBC, VRMSemiAnalysis count: SST (2), tray converter, VRM
Price of the rack power hardware
~$40k$400-500k
AC power rack, SemiAnalysis estimate800 VDC power rack, about 10x

Not all at once. SemiAnalysis expects sidecar retrofits in 2026-27, Kyber racks in 2027-28 and SSTs at scale from 2029. Until then, most sites keep AC upstream.

Big companies paid most for the chip end

The startups closest to the GPU were bought in 2026, before 800 VDC ships. Empower sold for 6-7x the capital it raised.

What's left is upstream and early. Heron Power, Amperesand and DG Matrix raised ~$280M in their main rounds. The largest solid-state breaker startup round of 2025-26 was €17M.

  • ADI bought Empower Semiconductor~$1.5BVertical power and IVRs. Closed Jul 7 2026
  • onsemi is buying Ferric$600M + up to $175MIntegrated voltage regulators. Announced Nov 2 2026, earnout on revenue milestones
  • Infineon bought C2i SemiconductorsUndisclosedVertical power stages and controllers. Closed Oct 5 2026
  • Navitas bought ClarosUp to ~$233MIVRs. Closed Oct 6 2026, about 6.5 months after a $30M round
  • nVent bought Maverick Power$1.75B + up to $550MData center switchgear and modular power. Closed Oct 1 2026
  • Flex bought EPC Power~$4.4BGrid-forming power conversion. Closed Oct 14 2026
  • Vertiv bought UtilityInnovation Group$1.45B + up to $1.15BMicrogrids and grid interconnect. Closed Oct 27 2026
  • Eaton bought Resilient Power$86MSolid-state transformers. Closed Aug 6 2025