AI’s new bottleneck: power
Everyone’s been obsessed with the chips, models, and mega-cap tech names driving the AI boom. But Harbor Capital is waving a giant neon sign and saying: sure, but who’s plugging all this stuff in?
The firm’s new Munificent Seven ETF (NYSE:BBLS) began trading last week, and it’s built around a simple thesis: AI needs absurd amounts of electricity, and the companies supplying that energy could be the next crowded trade.
Meet the “Munificent Seven”
Instead of chasing the usual AI suspects, BBLS is concentrated in seven global energy heavyweights:
- ExxonMobil
- Chevron
- ConocoPhillips
- Shell
- TotalEnergies
- BP
- Equinor
Harbor is basically taking the Magnificent Seven branding and flipping it into an oil-and-gas remix. Very 2026.
Why investors should care
The pitch isn’t just marketing fluff. The article points to forecasts showing data-center electricity demand could balloon through 2030, with AI infrastructure soaking up a big chunk of new power supply. If that happens, the winners may not just be the companies building the models — it could also be the ones selling the fuel, power, and infrastructure to keep those models running.
That gives BBLS a different angle than the standard AI ETF playbook:
- less semis and hyperscalers
- more energy cash flow and capital returns
- a way to bet on the AI buildout without owning another slice of Nvidia
Big picture
If AI is turning into an industrial-scale power hog, the market may keep looking for the companies that feed the beast. BBLS is Harbor’s bet that the boring stuff — electricity, gas, and infrastructure — might be where the next AI upside sneaks in.