According to a report released on Wednesday by consulting firm Bain & Company, the soaring demand for key semiconductors in artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-supported smart phones and laptops could trigger the next global chip shortage. The last major global semiconductor shortage occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when supply chain disruptions limited supply, and the surge in demand for consumer electronics due to people being forced to work from home. The report from Bain & Company states that tech giants have been rushing to purchase graphics processing units (GPUs) – mainly from Nvidia. These GPUs are used in datacenters and are crucial for training and supporting large AI models like OpenAI's ChatGPT. The company points out that the semiconductor supply chain is "extremely complex, with demand growing by over 20%, which could disrupt the balance and lead to chip shortages." (Global Market Broadcast)