Even as many AI stocks have already rallied, the underlying growth story remains intact. Investment in data centers, cloud infrastructure, and AI infrastructure continues to run strong — meaning opportunities extend well beyond AI developers themselves to the broader ecosystem around them. That’s the core message from InnovestX’s DR23 product line, which has grouped AI-related investment opportunities into three distinct themes tailored to different risk appetites and investment goals.
Rather than asking whether AI is still worth investing in after such a rally, InnovestX suggests investors ask a more useful question: if AI remains a long-term megatrend, which part of that ecosystem should they own?
3 AI Themes
Theme 1: Mega Cap AI Leaders covers the Big Tech companies putting AI into real-world use. Capital expenditure trends support the case: Alphabet has raised its 2026 investment budget to roughly $180–190 billion, Amazon plans to spend around $200 billion, and Tencent is set to nearly double its AI capex in the second half of the year. Demand signals back this up — Google Cloud’s backlog has nearly doubled to $462 billion, with revenue up 63% year-on-year and operating margin expanding from 17.8% to 32.9%, a record high. InnovestX names a series of DR23 in this theme: GOOG23 (Alphabet), AMZN23 (Amazon), NVDA23 (Nvidia), BABA23 (Alibaba), TENCENT23 (Tencent). It suits investors seeking AI exposure through large, full-stack companies with relatively lower volatility compared to smaller operators.
Theme 2: Early Innovation targets technologies expected to shape AI over the next 5–10 years — space, nuclear energy, quantum computing, and rare earth materials. Key 2026 milestones cited include SpaceX’s stock listing, U.S. government support for nuclear energy and rare-earth supply chains, and IonQ’s growing commercial revenue and government contracts. DR23 names: SPACEX23 (SpaceX), GEV23 (GE Vernova), IONQ23 (IonQ), MP23 (MP Materials), OKLO23 (Oklo). This theme suits higher-risk investors betting on early-stage growth.
Theme 3: AI Infrastructure & Semiconductors focuses on the supply chain that benefits regardless of which AI model or company ultimately wins — chips, foundries, chip-design software, high-speed networking, and data centers. Tower Semiconductor announced a $3 billion investment to expand Japanese production capacity, backed by $1 billion in Japanese government support for silicon photonics. Fabrinet and Lumentum are benefiting from rising demand for optical interconnect equipment, while Synopsys is shifting toward a royalty-based revenue model. DR23 names: TSEMI23 (Tower Semiconductor), FABRINET23 (Fabrinet), SYNP23 (Synopsys), LITE23 (Lumentum), SMIC23 (SMIC). This suits investors who prefer broad exposure to AI capex growth over picking a single winner.
InnovestX frames the choice simply: those who believe Big Tech will keep leading AI investment may lean toward Mega Cap AI Leaders; those betting on next-wave technology may prefer Early Innovation; and those who believe infrastructure wins regardless of the ultimate AI victor may favor AI Infrastructure & Semiconductors. The report’s takeaway is that there’s no single “correct” AI trade — the priority should be matching a theme to one’s own risk tolerance and investment horizon.
