Toilet, glass fibre firms win from AI boom

Japanese companies making toilets, glass fibre, and seasonings are among the biggest winners of the AI boom, not AI chipmakers like Nvidia.

Toto, known for Washlet bidets, produces electrostatic chucks, ceramic plates that hold silicon wafers during chip fabrication.

These traditional manufacturers supply specialized ceramics, chemicals, and glass that are essential and hard to replace in semiconductor production.

Investors recognize these firms as 'second-order AI beneficiaries' that profit from AI without building AI systems themselves.