Gold’s physical properties give it great versatility in many industrial applications, such as the substantial electronic infrastructure needed to power the fast-growing artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

Throughout history, gold has been regarded as the quintessential store of value, making it an essential asset for people who want to protect their savings and investors who want to diversify their portfolios when facing economic uncertainty.

But beyond its popularity as a safe-haven asset and its use in the jewellery sector, gold’s physical properties, such as its high electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion, make it ideal for its use in many industrial applications.

From the medicine sector where it is used in prosthetics and implantable medical devices, thanks to the fact that it is non-reactive and non-toxic, to electronics applied to the automotive and aerospace industries, an estimated 300 tonnes of gold a year is used by electronic components and 7% of the world’s gold is found in these types of devices.

AI drives demand for gold

Although demand for gold used in electronics peaked in 2010 at 328 tonnes, falling to 249 tonnes in 2023, the sector has seen a modest recovery in recent quarters and, according to a report by the World Gold Council (WGC), AI applications will bolster demand in the near term.

The adoption of AI is increasing the need for advanced technological devices that use gold. Technology companies are investing large amounts of money in creating new multimodal artificial intelligence models and algorithms that can learn, reason and make decisions autonomously after collecting and analysing data. With the expansion of AI applications in fields such as healthcare, security and finance, this trend is expected to continue.

Although as technologies evolve, some traditional uses of gold may disappear – as we are seeing the production of LED lights without gold-containing components – as companies invest in data centres, chips and specialised sensors, the demand for gold for industrial uses is expected to continue to experience steady growth, cementing it as an indispensable asset in both industry and financial markets.

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