AI TRENDS | SemiAnalysis Founder Dylan Patel Discusses AI Infrastructure, Storage Shortages, and CPO Timeline

SemiAnalysis founder Dylan Patel said the AI infrastructure stack is being shaped by storage constraints, shifting CPU demand, and a delayed rollout timeline for co-packaged optics (CPO). According to Odaily, Patel made the remarks in a recent podcast interview where he outlined current developments and investment considerations in semiconductor and AI infrastructure. Patel said storage faces a structural shortage that could last for several years and described potential upside of two to three times. He also said that while AI agents and reinforcement learning are increasing CPU demand, the sell-side market is pricing this too aggressively. He added that CPU growth is largely driven by historical catch-up demand, and that CPUs still represent far less absolute value than GPUs in AI servers. Patel said the widely anticipated large-scale deployment of CPO has been pushed back to late 2028 through 2029, extending the period of demand for copper cable connectors.