In this article, we discuss the 13 AI news that broke the internet.
AI Moving from Prompts to Problem-Solving
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, a new generation of AI systems is emerging. The new systems go beyond answering questions to autonomously completing tasks and solving problems. These “agentic” AI systems are set to revolutionize industries, from healthcare to finance, by taking on complex objectives and driving productivity in ways we have yet to fully experience.
Matt Wood, PwC’s global commercial technology and innovation officer, discussed this evolution of AI on CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street’. He highlighted the transition from basic question-answering systems to more advanced agentic systems capable of completing tasks on behalf of users. These systems will be able to respond to objectives like booking flights or managing investments by creating and completing to-do lists autonomously.
He predicts that within the next 12 months, agentic AI will become more integrated into everyday life, similar to how apps improve the functionality of smartphones. Wood also pointed out that AI is being adopted rapidly in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and manufacturing due to existing investments in data governance, which provide a solid foundation for leveraging generative AI.
READ ALSO: Top 15 AI Stock News and Ratings Dominating Wall Street and Jim Cramer Discussed 18 Companies That Hit $100 Billion in Market Cap in 2024.
According to a Bloomberg report from December 13, companies like OpenAI, Salesforce, and McKinsey are already deploying agents to improve efficiency and reduce the need for human intervention in routine tasks. Agents can take on roles like personal assistants, collaborative coworkers, and supervisors, enabling employees to focus on higher-value work.
Although the agents won’t fully replace jobs, AI agents are expected to transform work environments, create new roles, and foster greater productivity, especially in sectors with complex, regulated processes. The widespread adoption of these agents could lead to changes in staffing models and workplace dynamics by 2025, with companies using fewer but more skilled workers.
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).
A macro view of a 5G/4G chips and modules, displaying the cutting edge technology of the company.
13. Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ:HUT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 22
Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ:HUT) operates as a Bitcoin miner and energy infrastructure provider and provides services for energy optimization, equipment monitoring, and digital asset mining.
Local news channel WBRZ reported that West Feliciana Parish is set to host a $12 billion AI data center by Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT), which will create thousands of new jobs. Located off Hwy LA-964, the project follows the announcement of a Meta AI data center in the area. Hut 8 plans to complete the first phase by the end of 2025, which includes two 450,000-square-foot buildings and will employ 1,500 to 2,000 construction workers. The project will also bring permanent, high-end jobs in fields such as instrumentation, electrical work, welding, and pipefitting, boosting the local economy.
12. Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) offers AI-powered cybersecurity solutions and AI-driven tools for threat detection, security orchestration, and endpoint protection.
Mizuho raised the firm’s price target on Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) to $78 from $68 and kept an Underperform rating on the shares as part of a 2025 outlook for the software group, as reported by The Fly on December 13. The firm increased price targets on several companies, largely a reflection of recent increases in comp multiples. It believes the most important trends benefiting software vendors today and in the future are digital transformation, generative artificial intelligence, data and analytics, contact center cloud migrations, DevOps, and next-generation security. Mizuho believes the industry’s risk/reward is more balanced entering 2025, but still attractive overall.
