Applied Digital's (NASDAQ: APLD) stock price has surged nearly 140% over the past 12 months amid the buying frenzy in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. But unlike Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and its peers, Applied Digital isn't actually an AI company. Instead, it merely builds or buys big data centers, makes sure they're powered, and then rents out the spaces to other companies that install their own servers.

In other words, it's just a data center developer like Digital Realty Trust (NYSE: DLR) and (NASDAQ: EQIX). Prior to its rebranding last November, Applied Digital was known as Applied Blockchain, a niche company that mainly rented out its data centers to Blockchain app developers and Bitcoin miners.

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Source Fool.com