One of the clearest ways to measure the pace of the AI boom is by looking beyond software headlines and into the hardware supply chain. Nvidia is the most visible example. As AI companies race to build data centers, they are purchasing billions of dollars’ worth of GPUs every quarter, pushing Nvidia to historic valuations. But Nvidia is only part of the story.

To understand where the market is heading next, it helps to look further upstream. That’s where ASML comes in. The Dutch company is the sole supplier of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems, the equipment required to manufacture the most advanced chips in the world. In practice, that makes ASML a bottleneck and a bellwether for the entire semiconductor industry. When ASML’s order book grows, it signals confidence that chip demand will remain strong for years.

ASML’s latest quarterly results strongly support that view. The company reported €32.7 billion in net sales, an impressive figure on its own. More telling, however, is its “new bookings” number. New bookings represent fresh orders placed by chip manufacturers and reflect how much future capacity they believe they will need. This quarter, ASML recorded €13 billion in new bookings, a company record and more than double the previous quarter.

According to CEO Christophe Fouquet, that surge is directly linked to AI demand. In the earnings statement, he noted that customers have grown increasingly optimistic about the medium-term outlook, driven primarily by expectations that AI-related demand will be sustained. In plain terms, chipmakers believe AI labs will need the data centers currently under construction, and they are investing now to be ready.

None of this is guaranteed. Orders can be delayed or canceled, and market sentiment can shift. But for now, there is little evidence of companies pulling back from their massive AI infrastructure plans. If anything, the data suggests the opposite: the foundations of the AI boom are still being built, and at full speed.

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