What is AI Industry?
The AI industry stack includes: foundation model developers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta), specialized chip makers (NVIDIA, AMD, custom silicon from hyperscalers and Apple), cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle), enterprise AI applications, and emerging domains (autonomous vehicles, robotics, drug discovery). Investment cycles in 2023-2025 have been historic โ hyperscaler capex on AI infrastructure exceeds $200B annually.
Why it matters for investors
AI is the largest investment cycle of the current decade. Demand for AI compute has driven NVIDIA to one of the world's most valuable companies. Hyperscaler AI capex impacts: semis (NVIDIA, TSMC, ASML), power generation (utilities, nuclear), construction (data centers), networking (Arista, Broadcom), and cooling (Vertiv, Trane). The eventual revenue payoff and ROI on this capex remains the biggest debate in markets.