Once viewed primarily as a barometer of global manufacturing, copper prices are increasingly moving on expectations that the AI boom will fuel years of investment in data centers, electric grids, and power infrastructure. "AI has become a key narrative shaping expectations for future power, grid and copper demand," Goldman Sachs commodities strategists led by Lavinia Forcellese wrote on Monday. AI expectations have become an increasingly important driver of copper prices, according to Goldman Sachs. Chart: Goldman Sachs · Goldman SachsCopper is used throughout the AI ecosystem, from the miles of electrical wiring inside data centers to the transformers, switchgear, and high-voltage transmission lines needed to deliver power to the infrastructure underpinning the AI build-out. Goldman argues those future infrastructure needs — not today's physical demand — are becoming an increasingly important force in copper markets.