Recently, as AI investment continues to grow in popularity and ETFs focusing on this subject continue to proliferate, asset management companies are providing investors with new ways to harness the market's enthusiasm for artificial intelligence.

Morningstar's data shows that out of more than 20 ETFs named after artificial intelligence, more than one-third were launched this year.

Over the past week, three more joined the ranks, including a cloud computing ETF that was specifically rebranded and transformed for artificial intelligence. This batch of artificial intelligence ETFs currently has assets of 4.5 billion dollars, making it closer to a $5.5 billion nuclear power-themed ETF, and far surpassing the cannabis industry, which has assets of 1.37 billion dollars.

Daniel Sotiroff, senior analyst at Morningstar, said: “I'm not surprised they are growing exponentially. It's a rapidly growing and rapidly developing industry.”

Sotiroff said that in the past 12 months, leaders in the field of artificial intelligence and chip manufacturers$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$The share price increase of more than 200% is probably just a reaffirmation of this confidence.

Tony Kim, head of BlackRock's basic equity technology department, said that in addition to Nvidia, artificial intelligence may have a larger and wider range of beneficiaries in the future.

According to information, Kim is the manager of two new AI-themed ETFs that BlackRock launched last Tuesday, namely$iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF (BAI.US)$und$iShares Technology Opportunities Active ETF (TEK.US)$.

BlackRock's first artificial intelligence product was launched in 2018$ISHARES FUTURE AI & TECH ETF (ARTY.US)$The asset size reached 0.63 billion US dollars, and the current transaction price is slightly lower than the 52-week high set on October 14.

Jay Jacobs, head of active and thematic ETFs at BlackRock, said that although the company's initial artificial intelligence products were linked to indices, the two new funds were actively managed to capture emerging opportunities in the field of artificial intelligence.

He said, “The artificial intelligence market is going to change dramatically. What you think today won't be what tomorrow, next year, or years from now.”

arms race

Bank of America securities market analysts Ohsung Kwon and Savita Subramanian said in a recent report that they think$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$und$Amazon (AMZN.US)$There is an ongoing “artificial intelligence arms race” between major technology companies. They calculated that the capital expenditure of the big four giants on artificial intelligence will reach 206 billion US dollars this year, an increase of 40% over 2023. By contrast, they expected,$S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$The capital expenditure of 496 other Chinese companies will decline slightly.

According to estimates by venture capital firm Accel, venture capital firms will also provide up to $79.2 billion in funding to artificial intelligence startups by the end of this year, which is 27% higher than the level in 2023. This means that for every dollar invested by venture capital firms, 40 cents will go to an artificial intelligence company.

Of course, investing in AI-based ETFs doesn't guarantee outperforming the market. The largest artificial intelligence fund so far this year$Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ.US)$It rose by about 20%, while the benchmark S&P 500 index rose 22%.

Earlier this month, Amplify ETFs renamed an existing cloud computing ETF to reflect a new focus on emerging technology and named it the Amplify Bloomberg AI Value Chain ETF (AIVC.US).

Nathan Miller, vice president of product development at Amplify, said, “Now we're trying to move towards the cloud in a specific way of artificial intelligence.”

He added that the long-term goal is to be prepared to be profitable and take the lead in discovering new opportunities once all capital expenses on artificial intelligence begin to be reflected in earnings.

“Like all ETF companies, we're trying to offer investors something unique,” Miller said.

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