DOJ Sues to Block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 Billion Acquisition of Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR)

We recently compiled a list of the 10 Trending AI Stocks on Investors’ Radar. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) stands against the other AI stocks.

The US is struggling to keep its technology within its borders, a goal that the US government and most of the country are determined to achieve to maintain dominance, particularly in AI. In this regard, ChatGPT maker OpenAI has recently complained that its competitors, including those in China, are using its work to advance in developing their own artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

READ NOW: These 29 AI Electricity and Infrastructure Stocks Are Crashing Due to DeepSeek News and 10 AI Stocks to Watch Amid the DeepSeek Buzz

Bloomberg reported that Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, is currently investigating whether any data belonging to the AI startup has been used in an unauthorized manner. White House “AI and crypto czar”, David Sacks, seems to agree with OpenAI’s allegations. Sacks suggested that DeepSeek may have used OpenAI’s models to get better, a process known as knowledge distillation.

“There’s substantial evidence that what DeepSeek did here is they distilled the knowledge out of OpenAI’s models. I think one of the things you’re going to see over the next few months is our leading AI companies taking steps to try and prevent distillation… That would definitely slow down some of these copycat models.”

-David Sacks

Nevertheless, DeepSeek’s AI models demonstrate how previous sanctions and export controls by the US have failed to curb competition. Investment firm Morgan Stanley, speaking of the broad market reaction on Monday following the emergence of DeepSeek’s cheaper and more efficient AI models, stated that the consequence may be a reduced spending interest or even tighter export controls.

“The DeepSeek release highlights evolutionary innovations in AI, some of which may be deflationary. That said, the stock market reaction is probably more important than the cause and could bring further export controls or reduce spending enthusiasm”.

It must be noted here that the technology behind DeepSeek’s r1 model Wall Street is raving over isn’t new, but what is surprising is the claim that it has been developed cheaply, and also using less powerful chips.

“The takeaway is that there are many possibilities to develop this industry. The high-end chip/capital intensive way is one technological approach. But DeepSeek proves we are still in the nascent stage of AI development and the path established by OpenAI may not be the only route to highly capable AI.”

-Xiaomeng Lu, director of Eurasia Group’s geo-technology practice.

That said, the road ahead for AI development looks enticing, and AI scientists broadly agree that these new developments are a positive step for the industry as a whole.

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among 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).

Juniper Networks, Inc. (JNPR) Modernizes Port Huron Area School District's Network with AI-Native Solutions

A close-up on a technician’s hands adjusting the knobs of a router in a sophisticated server room.

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47

Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) is a leader in secure, AI-Native Networking that delivers the best and most secure user experiences from the edge to the data center and cloud. On January 30, Reuters reported the U.S. Department of Justice has sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s $14 billion deal to acquire networking gear maker Juniper Networks. The DOJ said that the acquisition would stifle competition and would lead to only two companies — Cisco Systems and HPE. Both of these would end up controlling more than 70% of the U.S. market for networking equipment.

“Juniper has also introduced innovative tools that have materially decreased the cost of operating a wireless network for many customers. This competitive pressure has forced HPE to discount its offerings and invest in its own innovation”.

 -DOJ said in its complaint.

Overall JNPR ranks 7th on our list of the trending AI stocks on investors’ radar. While we acknowledge the potential of JNPR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than JNPR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stock To Buy Now and Complete List of All AI Companies Under $2 Billion Market Cap.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.