Battle lines on artificial intelligence supremacy and dominance have been drawn. Fresh from touting the success of DeepSeek on the development of cost-effective AI models, China has made it clear it won’t sit back and play second fiddle to US dominance on AI innovations.
The country’s top economic officials are in the process of setting up a state-backed fund that will support technological innovation focusing on advanced technology like AI. According to Zheng Shanjie, head of China’s state economic planner, the state venture capital fund could attract $138 billion in capital over the next 20 years.
Most of the funding comes from local governments and the private sector and will accelerate the development of high-end chips. The capital injection should also support China’s ambitions for artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum computing. China has already made significant progress in the rapid growth of microchips and AI large language models as it looks for ways to bypass US export control regulations.
“Scenes once only seen in science fiction are now becoming reality. We are steadily moving toward the global frontiers of technology and innovation,” Zheng said. “This proves that the suppression and blockade attempt by certain forces only serve to accelerate our drive for independent innovation,” he added in an apparent reference to the United States.
When DeepSeek unveiled its R1 large language model in January, it caused a stir in the world’s stock markets. However, it could almost match its competitors’ capabilities, including OpenAI’s GPT-4. This took observers aback since the US has been trying for years to limit China’s access to high-power AI chips due to national security concerns.
Even as China ramps up AI investments, the US is not sitting back and letting its dominance fizzle in thin air. The US, under President Donald Trump, continues to provide a friendly investment environment to attract investment from the public and private sectors. Trump and tech companies have collaborated more and more since his election in November of last year, with Trump keen to demonstrate that his administration is more business-friendly than Joe Biden’s.
The $500 billion Stargate project for enhancing data center capacity underscores how the US remains a top investment destination amid the AI boom.
“This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefits for the entire world. This project will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies,” OpenAI said in a statement about the Stargate Project.
In Texas, the first data centre for the Stargate project is in the pipeline. OpenAI maintains in a policy white paper that investments in US AI infrastructure can guarantee that US AI tools outperform Chinese technology and generate new economic opportunities and jobs. As a result, the parent company of ChatGPT is pleading with the US government to develop a fundamental plan to guarantee that infrastructure spending maximizes access to AI and benefits the greatest number of people. According to the brief, $175 billion in global funds are waiting to be invested in AI projects.
A trader in a financial institution using fundamentals analysis to select stocks for a portfolio.
Our Methodology
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 in 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).
9. Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ:SERV)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 10
Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ:SERV) is a speciality industrial machinery company that develops and operates autonomous delivery robots, focusing on sustainable and efficient last-mile logistics. The company seeks to revolutionize delivery services by developing advanced AI-powered low-emission delivery robots that aim to make delivery sustainable and economical. On March 7, the company delivered a solid fourth quarter and full year 2024 results.
Revenue reached $1.8 million in 2024, with Q4 contributing $176,000, marking a 773% year-over-year growth and highlighting the increasing adoption of its technology and services. Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ:SERV) also exited the quarter in a strong financial position with $167 million of financing. During the year, it finished designing a third-generation AI-powered robot with much-improved capabilities, such as moving about twice as quickly, traveling twice as far, and using five times as much AI computing power, at the cost of about half that of previous models.
“We entered the year with an ambitious plan and made significant progress in realizing it. We believe we are well-positioned for continued growth and on track to deploy 2,000 robots across the U.S. by year-end, said Dr. Ali Kashani, Serve’s Co-founder and CEO.
8. Navitas Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 13
Navitas Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTS) designs, develops, and markets gallium nitride power integrated circuits, silicon carbide, and digital isolators for power conversion and charging. Its products are used in mobile, consumer, AI data centers and electric vehicles. The company plans to introduce GaN and SiC power technologies for use in AI data centers, EVS, and mobile applications.
On March 4, analysts at Baird reiterated an Outperform rating on the stock but cut the price target to $4 from $5. The revision comes on Navitas Semiconductor Corporation (NASDAQ:NVTS) announcing that the customer pipeline for its products expanded significantly last year. In 2024, the company’s customer pipeline grew by 92% year over year, reaching $2.40 billion. The data center sector is gaining attention as Navitas’ fastest-growing end market amid the AI boom. This growth is considered a positive indicator of the company’s future outcomes.