In this article, we discuss the 11 AI news you should not miss.
Reviewing Rising AI and Security Trends
Cloudflare recently released its fifth annual Year in Review report which highlights trends in internet usage and security, with a focus on AI advancements. Codeium, Claude, and CoPilot entered the top ten most popular generative AI services, while OpenAI maintained its lead. The report also revealed an increase in malicious traffic, with 6.5% of global traffic flagged as potentially harmful. AI bots, like Bytespider and ClaudeBot, were identified as some of the most active, although their traffic slightly decreased over the year.
Other key findings include a rise in government-directed internet shutdowns, with over half of global outages linked to these actions, and the Gaming and Gambling industries becoming the most targeted by cyberattacks.
READ ALSO: 11 Trending AI Stocks on Latest News and Ratings and 10 AI Stocks Taking Wall Street by Storm.
The Impact of AI on Investment Strategies and Market Trends
In a CNBC interview, Angie Newman of UBS Private Wealth Management discussed the challenges posed by geopolitical uncertainty and changing interest rates, emphasizing that stocks and bonds often become more correlated during such times. To hedge against this, she recommended diversifying into alternative assets with low correlation to traditional investments, such as gold and private equity.
She highlighted sectors within private equity, including real estate and data centers, as strong performers, especially with the rise of AI. Regarding AI, Newman noted the importance of diversifying portfolios by considering both tech giants and second and third-tier beneficiaries, such as companies benefiting from AI integration, including those with healthy P/Es and dividends. AI, she believes, will be a key driver of equity returns across various sectors.
Navigating Data Complexity in the AI Era
On December 10, NetApp released a report that stressed the importance of investing in unified data strategies and highlighted the growing need for security and sustainability as AI use expands. The Data Complexity Report highlighted the challenges and opportunities of managing data for AI as organizations move from experimenting with AI to scaling its use.
Key findings include the need for significant investment in AI and data unification, which 79% of tech executives see as crucial for success. Security concerns are rising, with 41% predicting more threats in 2025, especially in AI-leading nations. Sustainability remains a focus, though its importance has slightly declined. The report emphasized that secure, unified, and sustainable data strategies are essential for leveraging AI’s transformative potential while maintaining resilience and innovation.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. We listed the stocks in ascending order of their hedge fund sentiment taken from Insider Monkey’s database of 900 hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
11. Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SPAI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: N/A
Safe Pro Group Inc. (NASDAQ:SPAI) manufactures personal protective gear and ballistic protection products while also offering drone-based inspection services for infrastructure. The company uses AI for data analysis and reporting, providing solutions for public safety, emergency management, and critical infrastructure inspection.
Safe Pro (NASDAQ:SPAI) filed a provisional patent for a new technology on December 10. The technology uses drones and AI to improve the precision of object detection, reducing false positives when identifying explosives, landmines, and unexploded ordnance. This follows the company’s previous patent for their SpotlightAI platform, which uses AI to analyze drone imagery for locating and mapping explosives.
The technology has already been used in Ukraine, identifying over 16,500 landmines. Safe Pro’s IP portfolio also includes patents for autonomous detection and identification of explosives, and the technology is scalable for use in several industries, including humanitarian demining, agriculture, and defense.
10. Perfect Corp. (NYSE:PERF)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 9
Perfect Corp. (NYSE:PERF) provides AI and AR-powered solutions for the beauty, fashion, and skincare industries, including makeup, skincare diagnostics, and virtual try-ons. The company offers several AI-driven tools for photo editing, product recommendations, and personalization.
On December 10, Perfect (NYSE:PERF) released findings from its 2024 holiday retail survey, revealing consumer trends for the upcoming season, showing that 52% of shoppers are using or plan to use AI in their shopping. Key insights include a shift toward budget-conscious shopping, with 66% of consumers planning to spend less, and a preference for omnichannel shopping, as 60% favor both online and in-store experiences. Consumers are increasingly seeking personalized and technology-driven shopping, with 23% wanting virtual try-ons and 26% valuing AI-powered virtual assistants.