We recently compiled a list of the 10 AI Stocks Investors Are Watching Closely Right Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) stands against the other stocks.
The Trump administration is considering a ban against Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek from U.S. government devices amid national-security concerns. According to people familiar with the matter, U.S. officials are worried about how DeepSeek handles user data, which is said to be stored in servers in China. They also expressed concerns over how DeepSeek hasn’t sufficiently explained how it uses the data it collects or who has access to it.
The Wall Street Journal was the first to report the news, stating further how administration officials are further considering banning the chatbot from app stores and placing limits on how U.S.-based cloud service providers could offer DeepSeek’s AI models to their customers. These discussions, however, are still in the early stages.
READ ALSO: 10 Hot AI News Updates Analysts are Monitoring and 12 AI Stocks Making Headlines: Latest News and Ratings
Several governments have been banning the use of DeepSeek ever since its emergence. South Korea, for instance, suspended new app downloads after the company failed to address regulators’ concerns about its privacy policy. Taiwan’s Ministry of Digital Affairs stated that DeepSeek “endangers national information security”, banning government agencies from using the company’s AI. Italy has also banned DeepSeek after an investigation by the country’s privacy watchdog into how DeepSeek handles personal data.
Within the US, certain agencies have independently acted as well. For instance, the US Navy has warned its members to avoid using DeepSeek “in any capacity” due to “potential security and ethical concerns.” The email specifically asked recipients to “refrain from downloading, installing, or using the DeepSeek model in any capacity.”
Banning DeepSeek entirely for the general public, however, is complicated considering the AI models are open-source. This means that anyone can download and use them for free. Many US cloud vendors have been providing DeepSeek’s models as part of their services, and restricting access can anger investors and businesses who support the technology.
“U.S. officials considering technology controls are dealing with new territory here on what to do with open-sourced models.”
Paul Triolo, a partner at DGA-Albright Stonebridge in Washington, D.C.
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. The hedge fund data is as of Q4 2024.
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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
A customer service team in an office setting using the company’s Customer 360 platform to communicate with customers.
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 162
Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE:CRM) is a cloud-based CRM company that has gained popularity after it unveiled its AI-powered platform called Agentforce. On March 7, Kash Rangan from Goldman Sachs maintained a “Buy” rating on the stock with a price target of $400.00. Rangan is bullish on the company’s execution of its generative artificial intelligence product roadmap with the release of Agentforce 2dx following the TrailblazerDX conference.
According to the analyst, these enhancements, coupled with Salesforce’s unique static and dynamic data within Data Cloud and Zero Copy architecture, can accelerate customer time-to-value and expand the range of use cases beyond traditional Salesforce. Rangan said that even though Agentforce adoption may take time, there is a clear path for growth as customers adopt these tools.
He is further optimistic that AI monetization could happen sooner than Salesforce’s projected timeline of calendar 2026 and fiscal 2027. This is supported by data cloud and AI reaching $900 million in scale, 3,000 paying Agentforce deals in Q4 2025, and deal wins.
Overall CRM ranks 3rd on our list of AI stocks investors are watching closely right now. While we acknowledge the potential of CRM 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 time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CRM but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
