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BlinkLab Limited: Transforming Mental Healthcare through Mobile-based AI App
Australia-based BlinkLab leverages computer vision, artificial intelligence and machine learning by developing an app-enabled, smartphone-based diagnostic tool for evaluating children with neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism and ADHD. The app turns the mobile phone into a medical device for an effortless way of conducting remote and rapid tests.
The BlinkLab Test aims to perform neurobehavioural testing free from facial instruments or other fixed location equipment. This AI-based platform is designed to be used at home or in similar environments, independently or with the assistance of a caregiver while following instructions from the mobile device application.
In collaboration with Princeton University in the US and Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, Blinklab Test is initially developed as a prescription diagnostic aid to healthcare professionals (HCP). BlinkLab will need to complete a pivotal registrational study and subsequently apply for FDA registration and reimbursement for the tests.
Company Highlights
- Australia-based BlinkLab is focused on transforming mental healthcare through an AI-enabled smartphone application, a breakthrough technology developed at Princeton University.
- The company’s innovative approach leverages the power of smartphones, AI and machine learning to deliver screening tests specifically designed for children as young as 18 months old. This marks a significant advancement, considering traditional diagnoses typically occur around five years of age, often missing the crucial early window for effective intervention.
- Once approved by the regulators, this cutting-edge digital technology is poised to capture the imagination of both investors and major pharmaceutical companies, eager to embrace transformative solutions in healthcare.
- BlinkLab is led by an experienced management team and leading experts in the field of machine learning, autism and brain development bridging the most advanced technological innovations with groundbreaking scientific research. The company is chaired by Brian Leedman, an experienced biotechnology entrepreneur and founder of ResApp Health, a digital diagnostic company recently acquired by Pfizer.
This BlinkLab is part of a paid investor education campaign.*
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TSMC Boosts Revenue Expectations as US Policy Concerns Weigh on Chipmakers
Industry-leading chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM,TPE:2330) released its Q2 results, reporting a 36.3 percent net income jump year-on-year.
The company, whose clientele includes market behemoths Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), continues to benefit from surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
It reported consolidated revenue of 673.51 billion New Taiwan dollars (approximately US$20.82 billion), reflecting a 40.1 percent year-on-year increase and a rise of 13.6 percent from the previous quarter.
TSMC's net income rose by 9.9 percent from the first quarter, hitting 247.85 billion New Taiwan dollars.
“Our business in the second quarter was supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 3nm and 5nm technologies, partially offset by continued smartphone seasonality,” said Senior Vice President and CFO Wendell Huang.
Huang added that moving into the third quarter, the company aims to leverage growing demand for AI-related services, including smartphones, high-performance computing and generative AI. To meet this demand, TSMC has launched new factories overseas, including three planned in the US and one in Japan that opened this year.
During the second quarter, the company briefly broke the US$1 trillion market capitalization barrier, putting it ahead of Elon Musk's Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) as the seventh most valuable technology firm.
Looking forward to Q3, TSMC expects revenue of US$22.4 billion to US$23.2 billion.
Trump comments on Taiwan hurt chipmakers
Shares of TSMC took a hit on Wednesday (July 17) after former US President Donald Trump suggested that Taiwan "should pay (the US) for defense" since it "does not give (the US) anything."
After closing on Tuesday (July 16) at US$186.14, TSMC fell as low as US$171.16 on Wednesday. It sank even further on Thursday (July 18), reaching US$166.14 before finishing the day at US$171.81.
Other major semiconductor companies also saw significant share price drops.
Declines were further exacerbated by reports that the Biden administration is mulling strict curbs on firms allowing China access to advanced chip technology. Taiwan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s most advanced chips, primarily through TSMC, making it a critical player in the global semiconductor supply chain.
Addressing concerns, TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei told reporters on Thursday, "So far we did not change any of our original plans of expansion of our overseas fabs. We continue to expand in Arizona, in Kumamoto, and maybe in future in Europe. No change in our strategy. We continue in our current practice."
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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
ASX AI Stocks: 5 Biggest Companies in 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to evolve and advance rapidly, becoming increasingly integrated in the automation of everyday life and a focal point of growth in the technology sector.
AI is also becoming a major focus for the Australian government, whose budget for the 2023/2024 fiscal year outlines a plan to invest AU$101.2 million in AI development and adoption over the coming years. That includes AU$17 million announced in December 2023 to fund up to five AI Adopt Centres for small- and medium-sized businesses.
According to a September 2023 report from IDC on worldwide AI spending, Australia, along with Korea and India, is leading the Asia-Pacific region in spending on AI solutions; the three countries are also leading when it comes to AI adoption in the area. Spending in the region, excluding Japan and China, is expected to reach US$28.2 billion by 2027.
Although the AI market is relatively small in Australia, it’s growing. To help investors understand the options available, the Investing News Network used TradingView's stock screener to find the top AI stocks on ASX by market cap. All ASX AI stocks data was current as of July 11, 2024; companies whose business is focused mainly on AI were considered.
1. NextDC (ASX:NXT)
Market cap: AU$11.08 billion; current share price: AU$18.33
NextDC is Australia’s leading data centre operator, with 13 functioning centres throughout Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Japan, and nine more currently in the works. NextDC has expressed its commitment to improving Australia’s digital infrastructure with multiple business and academic partnerships.
This past August, NextDC announced it would be partnering with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), as well as well-known Australian mining and telecommunications groups, to bring a state-of-the-art data centre to Pilbara, Western Australia. Then, in November 2023, the company officially broke ground on an AU$80 million data centre in Darwin as part of an action plan to improve the digital infrastructure in the Northern Territory. A new construction project to build a data centre in Adelaide was announced on June 12.
NextDC also revealed last September that it would be partnering with La Trobe Business School’s Research Centre for Data Analytics and Cognition on research into future theoretical and practical applications of AI across a range of industries.
2. BrainChip (ASX:BRN)
Market cap: AU$366.85 million; current share price: AU$0.195
BrainChip is the company behind akida, a revolutionary digital neuromorphic chip that’s built with a spiking neural network, a type of artificial network that mimics the way messages are passed between neurons in the human brain.
Because the AI is inside the chip, the chip is able to learn on its own and is not reliant on the cloud or other networks. This makes it much more secure and reduces latency as well.
On June 5, the company released a white paper for its newly developed technology called TENNs-PLEIADES, an efficient AI processor that can perform complex tasks like decision-making, object recognition and data analysis. Unlike akida, this chip is designed for spatiotemporal classification and detection using event-based data, making it particularly well-suited for low-latency applications such as self-driving cars.
3. Appen (ASX:APX)
Market cap: AU$101.47 million; current share price: AU$0.465
Appen began in 1996 as an automated speech recognition startup by a couple based in Sydney, New South Wales. Today, the company operates as a trusted partner to firms transitioning to AI usage, with a suite of industry-specific large language models and AI-training products.
Appen has struggled in recent years to retain its market share as generative AI has increased in popularity. In January, long-time partner Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) cut ties to focus on in-house AI.
As its share price is down significantly from its peak at the beginning of this decade and revenue was down in 2023, this stock could be risky. Interested investors should perform their due diligence and keep a close eye on upcoming results. On June 24, the company announced that its H1 2024 results for the period ending June 30 will be shared on August 30. In a subsequent press release, Appen shared that it would be issuing new shares as part of a strategic move to raise additional capital and expand its presence in the AI market.
4. Bigtincan Holdings (ASX:BTH)
Market cap: AU$92.44 million; current share price: AU$0.15
Bigtincan Holdings is a sales platform that uses AI to help companies improve their customers’ buying experience by making the process more efficient and personalised. Bigtincan’s list of partners includes Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), SalesForce (NYSE:CRM) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT).
5. AI-Media Technologies (ASX:AIM)
Market cap: AU$79.35 million; current share price: AU$0.44
AI-Media Technologies is a global media access provider with operations in four key regions: Australia and New Zealand, North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and Asia. It was founded in 2003 by Tony Abrahams and Alex Jones, who was born deaf.
The company uses AI to transcribe speech, making media accessible to all and is now one of the world’s leading caption and translation providers. AI-Media technologies began trading on the ASX on September 15, 2020.
FAQs for investing in AI
What is artificial intelligence?
AI is defined as human intelligence exhibited by machines. The development of graphics processing units with faster and more powerful chips has supported the emergence of AI technologies.
Where is AI used?
AI has been heralded as a technology of the fourth industrial revolution, with heavy investment from industries including transportation, manufacturing, education and agriculture. Some of the sectors that will likely see the fastest AI investment growth in the coming years are healthcare, pharmaceutical research, retail, industrial automation, finance and intelligent process automation.
How to invest in AI stocks?
Investors looking to capitalise on AI's growth potential have a number of entry points when it comes to stocks. It's key for each person to practise due diligence and speak to their broker to determine the most suitable investments.
The companies listed above have a strong focus on AI, but investing in companies that are using AI as part of a larger business model is one way to gain indirect exposure to the sector. Examples of stocks like this on the ASX include Block (ASX:SQ2), WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC), Seek (ASX:SEK) and Xero (ASX:XRO).
For a more diversified approach, the Betashares Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence ETF (ASX:RBTZ) invests in companies involved in the development of AI applications all across the globe. Investing in an exchange-traded fund is a low-cost way to benefit from a sector without directly buying individual stocks.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2020.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Australia for real-time updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
AI Market Update: Q2 2024 in Review
The artificial intelligence (AI) industry has experienced both remarkable growth and turbulence in Q2.
Events such as a tech selloff on April 19, triggered by stubbornly high inflation data and the US Federal Reserve's reluctance to lower interest rates, sunk the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) below 5,000 for the first time since February, highlighting the influence the sector has on the overall economy.
Goldman Sachs' (NYSE:GS) prime brokerage report found that the group of companies leading the AI revolution, known as the Magnificent 7, accounted for 20.7 percent of hedge fund net exposure to US stocks following Nvidia’s Q1 results on May 22.
Despite setbacks, investor enthusiasm for the potential of AI technology has remained strong. Following the mid-April decline, major indexes trended steadily upward for the remainder of the quarter, reaching record-breaking closes the week ending on June 14. Further, Crunchbase data showed that AI startup funding more than doubled in Q2, indicating a strong appetite for innovation and a belief in the transformative potential of AI technology.
However, the potential for AI monetization remains unclear and requires further exploration. Furthermore, fears of overconcentration in the semiconductor industry were compounded after an earthquake struck Taiwan at the start of the quarter, causing supply chain interruptions as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC) (NYSE:TSM), the primary chip supplier for AI-focused tech companies, was forced to halt operations. Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) said the earthquake would hurt the calendar quarter of its DRAM supply as its four Taiwanese locations were also affected.
Gary Marcus, a prominent AI researcher, expressed concerns about the potential burst of the generative AI bubble in an article published just days before the disaster. He cited issues such as lack of profitability, security concerns and overconcentration in the semiconductor industry as potential catalysts.
Fueling innovation: Financing and investment in the AI sector
The AI startup landscape witnessed a surge in fundraising activities in Q2.
In early April, Reuters announced Elon Musk’s efforts to raise US$3 billion in a funding round that would have brought his startup xAI’s total valuation to US$18 billion. The story was unconfirmed at the time; however, a US$6 billion Series B funding round was announced on xAI’s website a month later, after which the company was valued at US$24 billion.
Meanwhile, Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine that could one day rival Google, held a US$62.7 million funding round that brought its valuation to US$1 billion on April 23. At the same time, the company launched Enterprise Pro, a solution designed for organizations looking to increase their productivity.
Additionally, major tech companies pursued partnerships and investments in promising AI startups, including OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. In April, OpenAI raised $300 million in funding and announced a collaboration with Reddit (NYSE:RDDT), providing the platform access to its AI technology in exchange for Reddit's content.
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) also announced its intention to collaborate with OpenAI and other startups, such as Runway and Pika Labs, aiming to bring generative AI capabilities to Adobe Premiere Pro. Similarly, Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) acquisition of Datakalab was reportedly struck to enhance its product line with on-device generative AI. AI features were revealed at its World Wide Developers Conference event in June, where Apple also officially announced its partnership with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT within iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
Prominent AI hardware provider NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) partnered with Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) to offer up to US$350,000 in Google Cloud credits to startups in NVIDIA's Inception program, a virtual incubator program designed to support and nurture AI startups.
Governments also provided various incentives to promote the development and growth of the AI industry. TSMC received a US$6.6 billion subsidy from the Commerce Department to build a production facility in Phoenix, while Micron was granted US$6.1 billion in chip grants to build factories in New York and Idaho. Intel’s (NASDAQ:INTC) US$28 billion chip factory, Ohio One, which could potentially be the world’s largest chip factory, also received government funding.
In addition, the Canadian government has shown commitment to reinforcing the country’s AI sector, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing a C$2.4 billion investment package from Budget 2024.
Addressing Challenges in the AI Industry: Managing Investor Expectations, Quarterly Results, ROI, and Data Center Expansion
With billions of dollars at stake, the recent unveiling of AI products by tech giants has had a significant impact on their quarterly results. OpenAI's GPT-4, Google's AI-powered Chromebooks Plus, Apple's AI-powered iPad and Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) Copilot+ PCs have set the stage for an AI-driven revolution in consumer technology.
As an example, Dell Technologies' (NYSE:DELL) financial results for its first fiscal quarter of 2025 were objectively solid, with 6 percent revenue growth compared to last year and an increase in AI-optimized server orders and shipments. However, despite these positive results, Dell's share price fell by over 15 percent in after-hours trading, with the decline attributed to the fact that investors had expected even stronger growth from the company.
AI-related revenue bolstered Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Broadcom’s (NASDAQ:AVGO) quarterly results, with Amazon shares hitting a new record high of US$189.05 on April 11 after its Q1 earnings showed a 235 percent rise in net income year-on-year. This marked a significant milestone for the company at the time, and its share price continued to climb – as of July 16, it is trading at US$193.02.
Broadcom’s results for its second fiscal quarter of 2024 also showed a surge of 280 percent in AI-related revenue, and the company announced that a 10-for-1 stock split would take place on July 15.
The volatility of AI stocks was on full display toward the end of April with the industry’s major players experiencing significant swings in their share prices.
NVIDIA and Super Micro Computer (NASDAQ:SMCI) led a tech selloff on April 19 when Super Micro failed to deliver a positive pre-announcement of its Q3 results. NVIDIA, a strategic collaborator of Super Micro, saw its share price fall in tandem below its 50-day moving average, and the company experienced its steepest decline since March 2020.
Days later, Super Micro, which had joined the S&P 500 only one month prior, plummeted 23 percent, leading analysts to speculate whether AI’s run could be showing signs of winding down. The company’s results added fuel to these worries when it missed revenue estimates for Q3 and saw its shares drop 14 percent in after-hours trading.
Despite the earlier challenges, NVIDIA had its best weekly performance in almost a year during the week that ended on April 26, when its share price rallied 15 percent on the heels of quarterly reports released by Meta (NASDAQ:META), Microsoft and Alphabet. All three companies announced plans to spend more on AI in the coming year; however, only Meta — whose Q1 results were released in close succession to Llama 3 and the addition of multimodal AI to its Ray-Ban Smart Glasses — saw a drop in share price due to weaker Q2 revenue guidance coupled with higher expenditure. The stock’s price fell by 14.74 percent.
Alphabet announced its first dividend and a US$70 billion stock buyback upon the release of its Q1 results, bringing its share price up by 10 percent and driving the market cap above US$2 trillion, its highest valuation since November 2021.
Apple and Microsoft also reported strong financial performances. Apple's Q2 results included a record-breaking US$110 billion share buyback program, demonstrating the company's commitment to shareholder value. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Q3 results revealed a robust 17 percent year-over-year revenue increase.
NVIDIA's upward trend continued as it announced Q1 2024 results and a June 7 stock split — potentially making it eligible for a spot on the Dow Jones Industrial Average — on May 22. Subsequently, NVIDIA surpassed Apple as the second most valuable company on June 5, achieving a market cap of US$3.02 trillion.
Rising Challenges: Chip Shortage, Geopolitical Tensions, and Power Consumption
The rapid growth of AI and the increasing demand for data-intensive applications have led to a surge in data center construction and a significant increase in electrical utility demand. Rene Haas, CEO of Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM), told Bloomberg that AI computing's energy consumption is projected to surpass the electrical use of India by 2030.
With those dynamics in mind, Amazon and Alphabet have announced significant investments in data center infrastructure, with Amazon investing US$11 billion in Indiana and Alphabet planning a US$3 billion investment for data centers in Indiana and Virginia.
These data centers require vast amounts of energy to power their servers, cooling systems and other infrastructure, contributing to the overall strain on electrical grids. As AI continues to advance and more data-driven technologies emerge, the demand for electrical power by data centers is expected to further escalate, with South Korean electrical equipment manufacturers such as Hyundai (KRX:005380), Hyosung (KRX:004800) and LS Electric (KRX:010120) witnessing significant gains in their share prices as a result.
However, the demand poses challenges to energy providers and necessitates innovative solutions for sustainable power generation and distribution, prompting the establishment of the Federal AI Safety and Security Board. The board is comprised of prominent figures like NVIDIA's Jensen Huang and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, who will help guide the responsible development and deployment of AI technologies, including addressing the associated challenges of increased electricity consumption.
The subsequent surge in power consumption has brought the energy efficiency of computer chips into sharper focus. Google, for instance, unveiled Axion, an Arm-based data center processor, aimed at improving energy efficiency in data centers, along with a new version of its own AI chip.
The push for efficiency extends to the manufacturing process as well. TSMC is planning a new generation of technology called A16, which is expected during the second half of 2026. The company says the technology will allow it to produce chips without using ASML’s (NASDAQ:ASML) High NA EUV machine, which can reportedly build powerful chips more efficiently.
TSMC also had a good quarter, reporting its fastest monthly revenue growth since 2022 in March. The chipmaker's Q1 results, released on April 18, beat market expectations in quarterly net profit by 9 percent, with growth expected to continue as demand for chips increases.
Looking ahead
Overall, the second quarter of 2024 has been marked by notable developments in the technology sector. While companies reported strong financial results, the industry faces antitrust lawsuits across various jurisdictions. The outcomes of these legal proceedings and the potential impact on the competitive landscape remain to be seen, emphasizing the importance of monitoring the evolving regulatory environment in the coming months.
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
How to Invest in OpenAI's ChatGPT (Updated 2024)
OpenAI’s ChatGPT is one of the latest technological breakthroughs in the artificial intelligence space. But what is ChatGPT, and can you invest in OpenAI? Read on to learn about its history — including its controversies — how to get investment exposure to OpenAI and other stocks you can buy in the generative AI space.
This emerging technology is representative of a niche subsector of the AI industry known as generative AI — systems that can generate text, images or sounds in response to prompts given by users.
Precedence Research expects the global AI market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 percent to reach US$2.57 trillion by 2032. Just how much of an impact OpenAI’s ChatGPT will have on this space is hard to predict, but S&P Global suggested in December 2023 that the total market revenue of generative AI as a whole will see a CAGR of 57.9 percent through 2028, increasing from US$3.7 billion last year to US$36.36 billion in 2028.
“With the launch of ChatGPT late in 2022, the true scale of its disruptive potential was more realized across the world in 2023,” said Naseem Husain, senior vice president and exchange-traded fund (ETF) strategist at Horizons ETFs. “Its success has sparked a wave of generative and chat AI models, from Midjourney to Grok.”
Of course, OpenAI has also generated a lot of controversy, such as fears over job destruction and targeted disinformation campaigns. And let’s not forget the odd and abrupt, however brief, ousting of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Many lawsuits have emerged as well. Multiple news outlets, including the the New York Times, have launched copyright lawsuits against OpenAI, and some of the plaintiffs are also seeking damages from the private tech firm’s very public partner Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT). Additionally, the Authors Guild, which represents a group of prominent authors, launched a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI that is calling for a licensing system that would allow authors to opt out of having their books used to train AI, and would require AI companies to pay for the material they do use.
With all of that said, there's still a lot of excitement surrounding generative AI technology. Many investors are wondering if it's possible to invest in private company OpenAI's ChatGPT, and if there are other ways to invest in generative AI. Here the Investing News Network (INN) answers those questions and more, shedding light on this new landscape.
What is OpenAI's ChatGPT?
Created by San Francisco-based tech lab OpenAI, ChatGPT is a generative AI software application that uses a machine learning technique called reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) to emulate human-written conversations based on a large range of user prompts. This kind of software is better known as an AI chatbot.
ChatGPT learns language by training on texts gleaned from across the internet, including online encyclopedias, books, academic journals, news sites and blogs. Based on this training, the AI chatbot generates text by making predictions about which words (or tokens) can be strung together to produce the most suitable response.
More than a million people engaged with ChatGPT within the first week of its launch for free public testing on November 30, 2022. Many were in awe of the chatbot’s seemingly natural language capabilities, not only in terms of understanding questions, but also because of its human-like responses. Users felt as if they were having a conversation with a human.
Besides being an excellent conversation partner, ChatGPT can write engaging short stories, develop catchy marketing materials, solve complicated math problems, and even create code in various programming languages.
Based on this success, OpenAI created a more powerful version of the ChatGPT system called GPT-4, which was released in March 2023. This iteration of ChatGPT can accept visual inputs, is much more precise and can display a higher level of expertise in various subjects. Because of this, GPT-4 can describe images in vivid detail and ace standardized tests.
Unlike its predecessor, GPT-4 doesn't have any time limits on what information it can access; however, AI researcher and professor Dr. Oren Etzioni has said that the chatbot is still terrible at discussing the future and generating new ideas. It also hasn't lost its tendency to deliver incorrect information with too high a degree of confidence.
Further improving on its product, in May 2024 OpenAI launched Chat GPT-4o, with the o standing for omni. OpenAI describes GPT-4o as "a step towards much more natural human-computer interaction—it accepts as input any combination of text, audio, image, and video and generates any combination of text, audio, and image outputs."
This version has done away with the lagging response time afflicting GPT-4. This proves especially helpful for producing immediate translations during conversations between speakers of different languages. It also allows users to interrupt the chatbot to pose a new query to modify responses.
Why is Microsoft investing in OpenAI?
Ascannio / Shutterstock
Since 2019, Microsoft has invested at least US$3 billion in OpenAI to help the small tech firm create its ultra-powerful AI chatbot, as reported by New York Times technology correspondents Cade Metz and Karen Weise.
Microsoft announced in mid-January 2023 that as part of the third phase of its partnership with OpenAI, it will make "a multiyear, multibillion dollar investment." Although the company hasn't disclosed the total amount of its latest spend, reports at the time indicated that US$10 billion is on the table. According to a February article from Reuters, OpenAI was recently valued at US$80 billion, meaning Microsoft's US$10 billion move would be huge. However, as of late 2023 there were rumors that OpenAI has only received a fraction of that purported investment.
How could Microsoft benefit from its investment? It seems the tech giant is hopeful advancements in generative AI may increase revenues for its Azure cloud computing business, as OpenAI officially licensed its technologies to Microsoft in 2020. Indeed, Pitchbook has described the deal as an “unprecedented milestone” for generative AI technology.
The strength of Microsoft’s confidence in OpenAI’s Altman was definitely on display in late November, when it quickly moved him to the payroll of its advanced AI research team after he was fired from OpenAI. Barely a week passed before Altman was back at the helm of OpenAI with major board changes, including the addition of Dee Templeton, Microsoft's vice president of technology and research partnerships and operations, as a non-voting observer.
What is Elon Musk's relationship to OpenAI?
DIA TV / Shutterstock
OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Altman, its current CEO, as well as Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) Elon Musk and other big-name investors, such as venture capitalist Peter Thiel and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. Musk left his position on OpenAI's board of directors in 2018 to focus on Tesla and its pursuit of autonomous vehicle technology.
A few days after ChatGPT became available for public testing, Musk took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say, “ChatGPT is scary good. We are not far from dangerously strong AI.” That same day, he announced that X had shut the door on OpenAI’s access to its database so it could no longer use it for RLHF training.
His reason: “OpenAI was started as open-source & non-profit. Neither are still true.”
Furthering his feud with OpenAI, Musk filed a lawsuit against the company in March 2024 for an alleged breach of contract. The crux of his complaint was that OpenAI has broken the "founding agreement" made between the founders (Altman, Greg Brockman and himself) that the company would remain a non-profit. Altman and OpenAI have denied there was such an agreement and that Musk was keen on an eventual for-profit structure.
Musk dropped the lawsuit three months later without giving a reason, reported Reuters. The day before he dropped the lawsuit, he reacted to the news that Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is partnering with OpenAI to incorporate ChatGPT with Apple devices. On X, Musk declared, "If Apple integrates OpenAI at the OS (operating system)level, then Apple devices will be banned at my companies. That is an unacceptable security violation.” It should be noted that OpenAI has said queries completed on Apple devices will not be stored by OpenAI.
Is ChatGPT revolutionary or hype?
Is ChatGPT a revolutionary technology or just another hyped-up tech fad that will flop, much in the way of Google Glass or the Segway? It may be too early to tell, but as with any new technology, there are plenty of wrinkles to iron out.
One of the most challenging bugs to fix before ChatGPT can be deployed more widely is the chatbot’s propensity to respond with “plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers," admits OpenAI.
Remember, its selection of which words to string together are actually predictions — not as fallible as mere guesses, but still fallible. Even the 4.0 version is “still is not fully reliable (it “hallucinates” facts and makes reasoning errors),” says the company, which emphasizes that users should exercise caution when employing the technology.
Indeed, ChatGPT's failings can have dangerous real-life consequences. Among other negative applications, the tech can be used to spread misinformation, carry out phishing email scams or write malicious code. What’s more, the AI-based technology is prone to racial and gender-based biases. Not only has this language learning model contributed to the human-like quality of its responses, but it has also picked up on some of humanity’s shortcomings.
“ChatGPT was trained on the collective writing of humans across the world, past and present. This means that the same biases that exist in the data, can also appear in the model,” explains Garling Wu, staff writer for online technology publication MUO, in a September 2023 article. “In fact, users have shown how ChatGPT can give produce some terrible answers, some, for example, that discriminate against women. But that's just the tip of the iceberg; it can produce answers that are extremely harmful to a range of minority groups.”
On the flip side, an August 2023 study by the University of East Anglia identified a left-wing bias in ChatGPT. Researchers at the school said their work shows that ChatGPT "favors Democrats in the U.S., the Labour Party in the U.K., and president Lula da Silva of the Workers’ Party in Brazil," according to Forbes.
There’s also the fear among teachers that the technology is leading to an unwelcome rise in academic dishonesty, with students using ChatGPT to write essays or complete their science homework.
“Teachers and school administrators have been scrambling to catch students using the tool to cheat, and they are fretting about the havoc ChatGPT could wreak on their lesson plans,” writes New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose.
Cybersecurity risks are also a concern for ChatGPT users, and recent events along these lines add validity to Musk's warning. For one, Mac GPT (the ChatGPT for macOS) was discovered to be breaching Apple's security rules by storing data as plain text rather than encryption, making it easier for more nefarious apps to access.
Despite these concerns, we’re likely to see new iterations of ChatGPT — hopefully without the aforementioned bugs — as OpenAI has the backing of tech giant Microsoft.
What's the future of OpenAI and ChatGPT?
The ChatGPT 3.5 platform is free to use, and can be accessed via the web. Those with an iPhone or iPad can also use ChatGPT through an app, and an Android version launched in July 2023. OpenAI also launched a paid subscription, ChatGPT Plus for business use, in August 2023. ChatGPT Plus gives users access to GPT-4, and the newest iteration GPT-4o.
In addition to Microsoft's use of the ChatGPT technology as part of Copilot, other companies are working with OpenAI to incorporate the technology into their platforms, including Canva, Duolingo (NASDAQ:DUOL), Intercom, Salesforce (NYSE:CRM), Scale, Stripe, and Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK).
As uptake increases, generative AI technology is replacing humans in the workplace, and will likely continue doing so in a number of fields, from content creation and customer service to transcription and translation services, and even in graphic design and paralegal fields. However, humans are hitting back, as evidenced by recent lawsuits launched against OpenAI and Microsoft. As mentioned, a growing group of prominent authors is suing the creator of ChatGPT and its financial backer for infringing on their copyright by using their books without permission to train the language models behind ChatGPT and other AI-based software.
The New York Times has also taken a stand by taking OpenAI and Microsoft to Manhattan Federal Court.
"Defendants seek to free-ride on the Times's massive investment in its journalism by using it to build substitutive products without permission or payment," states the complaint. "There is nothing 'transformative' about using the Times's content without payment to create products that substitute for the Times and steal audiences away from it."
Scarlett Johansson has also entered the ChatGPT legal minefield after she discovered OpenAI using what she claims is her voice for its chatbot personal assistance voice, Sky. CEO Sam Altman, however, has denied using her voice without permission. “The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers. We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson,” said Altman in a May 20, 2024 statement. “Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better.”
What about the long-term goals for OpenAI and ChatGPT? Metz of the New York Times believes the end game is “artificial general intelligence, or AGI — a machine that can do anything the human brain can do.”
In keeping with this end goal, OpenAI made a major move by acquiring an AI creative firm with a deep talent bench, Global Illumination, in mid-August 2023. "Global Illumination is a company that has been leveraging AI to build creative tools, infrastructure, and digital experiences," states OpenAI on its website.
"The team previously designed and built products early on at Instagram and Facebook and have also made significant contributions at YouTube, Google, Pixar, Riot Games, and other notable companies."
In November 2023, OpenAI decided to give customers without coding skills the ability to create customized versions of its chatbot and access to large data sets for training. “OpenAI wants people to start innovating using the chatbots and creating special chatbots,” Hod Lipson, an engineering and data science professor at Columbia University, told CNBC.
Chatbot creators will eventually have the ability to share their custom chatbots through OpenAI’s GPT Store. “They’re really trying to create a marketplace, which will allow companies and people to innovate and play around with this incredible form of AI that they’ve just unleashed,” Lipson added.
What is Google's Gemini?
While ChatGPT has been generating major buzz, it's definitely not the only chatbot out there.
Notably, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) subsidiary Google launched its answer to ChatGPT in March 2023. Originally known as Bard AI, the chatbot is built on Google’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications (or LaMDA). Google CEO Sundar Pichai has described Bard as an “experimental conversational AI service … (that) seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence and creativity of our large language models.”
As with ChatGPT, users can key in a query, request or prompt and it will provide a human-like response. One way in which Google's chatbot may have had a leg up on the original ChatGPT is that the latter could only use data up to 2021, while the former can access up-to-date information online; this is less relevant now that GPT-4 no longer has this limitation.
However, this ability to access current data hasn’t spared it from ChatGPT’s biggest folly: confidently stating misinformation as fact. The Verge reported that when asked about new discoveries from the James Webb Space Telescope, Google’s chatbot “made a factual error in its very first demo.”
In early in 2024, Google launched the latest iteration of its Bard Advanced AI chatbot with a new name, Gemini AI. The new version is powered by Google's Gemini Ultra large language model.
Which stocks will benefit the most from AI chatbot technology?
While most companies specializing in generative AI remain in the venture capital stage, there are plenty of AI stocks for those interested in the space. INN's article 5 Canadian Artificial Intelligence Stocks, ASX AI Stocks: 5 Biggest Companies, and 12 Generative AI Stocks to Watch as ChatGPT Soars includes some examples.
Other than companies directly tied to generative AI technology, which stocks are likely to get a boost from advances?
There are several verticals in the tech industry with indirect exposure to AI chatbot technology, such as semiconductors, network equipment providers, cloud providers, central processing unit manufacturers and internet of things.
Some of the publicly traded companies in these verticals include:
- Graphics processing unit leader Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA)
- The world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM)
- Computer memory and data storage producer Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)
- Digital communications firm Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO)
- Networking products provider Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR)
- Semiconductor producer Marvell Technology Group (NASDAQ:MRVL)
- Cloud-computing Amazon Web Services' parent company Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)
- Bluechip multinational technology company IBM (NYSE:IBM)
- Major semiconductor chip manufacturer Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)
Investors who don’t like to put all their eggs in one basket can check out these 5 Artificial Intelligence ETFs. And if you’re looking for a more general overview of the market, INN has you covered with How to Invest in Artificial Intelligence. You can also take a look back at the market in 2023 with our AI Market 2023 Year-End Review, or read projections for AI this year in our AI Market Forecast: 3 Top Trends that will Affect AI in 2024. Generative AI is also a major theme in the Top 10 Emerging Technologies to Watch in 2024.
FAQs for investing in OpenAI and ChatGPT
When will OpenAI go public?
OpenAI stock is not currently publicly traded and as of early July 2024, there are no plans for an OpenAI IPO on the horizon. For now, investors can gain exposure through related tech companies discussed here.
For example, if Microsoft does take a large position in the company, investors will be able to gain indirect exposure to OpenAI by purchasing Microsoft shares. For those seeking direct exposure, be on the lookout for news of an initial public offering (IPO).
How is OpenAI funded?
OpenAI raised US$11.3 billion over six funding rounds from 2016 to January 2024.
The three top investors are technology investment firm Thrive Capital, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and revolutionary technology investment firm Founders Fund.
What is the market value of ChatGPT/OpenAI?
OpenAI has a market valuation of US$80 billion as of February 2024. The company’s 2023 revenue had reached US$2 billion mark in December 2023 to join the ranks of Google and Meta (NASDAQ:META). OpenAi's annualized revenue reached US$3.4 billion in May 2024.
Does ChatGPT use Nvidia chips?
ChatGPT’s distributed computing infrastructure depends upon powerful servers with multiple graphics processing units (GPUs). High-performance Nvidia GPU chips are preferred for this application as they also provide excellent Compute Unified Device Architecture support.
Will ChatGPT cause another GPU shortage?
ChatGPT and generative AI will most likely not cause a GPU shortage. The type of GPUs used for machine learning models like ChatGPT are different from other types of GPUs, including those used to power gaming systems or crypto mining.
Can ChatGPT make stock predictions?
A University of Florida study recently highlighted the potential for advanced language models such as ChatGPT to accurately predict movements in the stock market using sentiment analysis.
During the course of the study, ChatGPT outperformed traditional sentiment analysis methods, and the finance professors conducting the research concluded that “incorporating advanced language models into the investment decision-making process can yield more accurate predictions and enhance the performance of quantitative trading strategies.”
When to expect ChatGPT 5?
OpenAI filed a trademark application for ChatGPT-5 in mid-July 2023, which hinted that the next iteration of the generative AI technology is currently under development. There were rumors the company planned to complete training for ChatGPT-5 by the end of 2023, but this did not materialize.
PC Guide noted in April 2024 that Sam Altman had teased an “amazing new model this year" in a March 2024 interview on the Lex Fridman podcast. More recently, tech writer Suswati Basu shared that OpenAI confirmed in a May 28 blog that a new model is in the works, and she predicts an expected release in late 2024 or early 2025.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2023.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.
Tech 5: S&P, Nasdaq Set New Records, Elon Musk Faces Rough Week
June's softer-than-expected US inflation data has bolstered the case for interest rate cuts as early as September, providing welcome relief for investors amid a difficult economic landscape.
Meanwhile, this week proved challenging for Elon Musk, and US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Behnam advocated for expanded regulatory authority over cryptocurrencies.
Stay informed on the latest developments in the tech world with the Investing News Network's round-up.
1. S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite close at all-time highs
The S&P 500 (INDEXSP:.INX) and Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) notched several record-high closes this week, driven by gains in semiconductor and mega-cap technology stocks.
The indexes were also buoyed by comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Speaking before Congress on Tuesday (July 9), Powell said the US economy is no longer "overheated," and cautiously indicated that interest rate cuts may not be far off, although he was careful not to suggest when they may come.
On Wednesday (July 10), the Nasdaq achieved its seventh consecutive all-time high close, while the S&P 500 accomplished its sixth, surpassing 5,600. These moves were fueled by gains in NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA), which advanced 2.7 percent; Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), which saw a 4 percent increase; Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), which was up 3.9 percent; and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), which saw its share price move 1.9 percent higher. Apple's close of US$232.98 was also a record, bringing the firm's market value to US$3.6 trillion.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM,TPE:2330) saw a more than 2 percent increase in its share price on Thursday (July 11), bringing it to 1,080 New Taiwan dollars and taking the company's market value to 28 trillion New Taiwan dollars (US$861 billion); that gave it the distinction of being Asia's most valuable public company.
Also on Thursday, MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) announced a 10-for-1 stock split of its Class A and Class B common stock, sending shares of the software company up 4 percent before market close. Meanwhile, news of Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) postponed robotaxi unveiling contributed to an 8.4 percent share price drop. NVIDIA and Apple also saw losses at the end of the day as investors turned to smaller-cap companies following a softer-than-expected US consumer price index report, which brought the Nasdaq and S&P 500 down 2 percent and 0.88 percent, respectively.
In contrast, Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index (INDEXTSI:OSPTX) reached a record high on Friday (July 12).
2. Crypto prices rise on positive sentiment
Amid investor optimism triggered by Powell's congressional testimony, the Bitcoin price trended up mid-week, reaching a notable value of US$59,322 on Tuesday. Ethereum’s valuation reached US$3,184 on Thursday.
Global exchange-traded products (ETPs) with digital assets as underlying collateral have seen a 77 percent increase in assets under management year-to-date, reaching US$87.9 billion and outpacing the increase in the value of their underlying digital assets, according to data from Fineqia International (CSE:FNQ,OTC Pink:FNQQF).
The total number of ETPs has grown by 20 percent to reach 194. Fineqia attributes the growth to the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US, with the trend expected to continue following the launch of spot Ethereum ETFs in July. On Monday (July 8), spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of US$294.8 million, their highest since June 6.
Elsewhere in the crypto space, PayPal's (NASDAQ:PYPL) PYUSD stablecoin has experienced significant growth in recent months, reaching over 533 million tokens since its expansion to the Solana network in May. The Solana network has seen its total value locked for liquid staking increase to US$3.73 billion from US$244 million this past October. Liquid staking now comprises 7 percent of the network's entire market capitalization.
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) said on Wednesday that it plans to launch three tokenization projects by the end of 2024, including its first in the US, and Grayscale announced on Monday that it plans to create and distribute the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust, known as the ETH Trust, on July 18.
3. Elon Musk's rough week
During an unfortunate week for Musk, xAI, Tesla and SpaceX faced setbacks and delays, while Cox Automotive's latest electric vehicle (EV) sales report found that Tesla’s share of EV sales in the US has dipped below 50 percent.
On Tuesday, the Information reported that talks between Musk’s AI startup xAI and tech giant Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) had fallen through; the companies were discussing the possibility of expanding a current arrangement under which xAI rents NVIDIA chips needed to build its own server from Oracle. The deal would have reportedly been worth US$10 billion, but it broke down due to power supply constraints and disagreements about a timeline for completion.
Later, on Thursday, Bloomberg reported that Tesla’s self-driving robotaxi, which was scheduled to be released on August 8, has been delayed by two months, with the unveiling now anticipated in October. According to the news outlet, the delay will allow the company more time to build additional prototypes.
Finally, on Friday, Reuters reported that SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket had suffered its first failure in more than seven years when the rocket's second stage in space failed to reignite roughly an hour after launching on Thursday evening. As a result, 20 Starlink satellites were deployed into a much lower orbit than planned, increasing the risk of incineration; in response, the US Federal Aviation Administration grounded the aircraft.
4. Apple has high hopes for iPhone 16
Inside sources told Bloomberg on Wednesday that Apple expects shipments of its newest iPhone model, the iPhone 16, to be about 10 percent higher than shipments in 2023.
The company reportedly said it’s targeting at least 90 million shipments in the second half of 2024, confident that the addition of Apple Intelligence features, showcased at its World Wide Developers Conference on June 10, will boost demand despite competition from other tech companies focused on artificial intelligence.
Meanwhile, market researchers for IDC found that sales of the Apple Vision Pro headset have not surpassed 100,000 since it was released on February 2. Sales in the US are projected to fall a further 75 percent by the end of the quarter.
IDC told Bloomberg that a more affordable version, which is expected to be released in 2025, could boost sales, but reiterated that the success of the Vision Pro will depend on the variety and quality of content available.
5. CTFC makes its case
In regulatory news, the CFTC's Behnam testified before the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry’s Hearing on the Oversight of Digital Commodities on Wednesday.
Benham reiterated his opinion that at least 70 percent of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, should be considered commodities rather than securities, making the CFTC a more appropriate regulatory agency to oversee crypto than the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Benham cited a recent decision from an Illinois district court judge, who sided with the CFTC and denoted two alt coins as commodities, not securities.
While the hearing did not lead to any immediate legislative action, it provided an opportunity for lawmakers to engage with Behnam on the complex issues surrounding cryptocurrency regulation.
On Thursday, US lawmakers failed in an attempt to override President Joe Biden’s veto of the legislative measure to overturn SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121, which the Senate passed on May 21. The House of Representatives held a vote, but fell short of the two-thirds majority required; the final tally was 228 to 184.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
AI Stocks: 9 Biggest Companies in 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) may be an emerging technology, but there are plenty of billion-dollar companies in this space.
As the market has grown over the past few years, AI technology has made strong inroads into several key industries, including logistics, manufacturing, finance, healthcare, customer service and cybersecurity.
While AI-driven advancements in robotics have received the most press in recent years, the latest buzz has centered around OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This intelligent chatbot shows how quickly generative AI is advancing, and has attracted the attention of heavyweight technology companies such as Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), which has reportedly invested billions of dollars in the privately held OpenAI. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has also released its own AI chat tool, Google Gemini.
On a global scale, Fortune Business Insights predicts that the AI industry will experience a compound annual growth rate of 20.4 percent between 2024 and 2032 to reach a market value of more than US$2.74 trillion.
Here the Investing News Network profiles some of the biggest AI stocks by market cap on US, Canadian and Australian stock exchanges. Data for this AI stocks list was gathered on June 27, 2024, using TradingView’s stock screener.
American AI stocks
According to Tracxn Technologies, the number of US AI companies has more than doubled since 2017 with over 75,740 companies working in the sector today.
One of the major factors fueling growth in the American AI market, states Statista, is “the growing investments and partnerships among technology companies, research institutions, and governments."
Below are three of the top US AI stocks organized by market cap.
1. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)
Market cap: US$3.37 trillion; share price: US$452.69
In addition to the reported billions Microsoft is committed to investing in OpenAI, the technology behemoth has built its own AI solutions based on the chatbot creator’s technology: Bing AI and Copilot. OpenAI officially licensed its technologies to Microsoft in 2020.
An update to Windows 11 in 2023 integrated the Bing chatbot into the operating system's search bar, allowing users to interact with the chatbot directly with Microsoft's Edge browser, Chrome and Safari.
Microsoft’s moves into generative AI have translated into higher revenues for its Azure cloud computing business and a higher market capitalization as the tech giant pushed past the US$3 trillion mark in January 2024.
In late May, Microsoft unveiled its Copilot+ Windows PCs, the company's first range of AI PCs, which the company says are the “fastest, most intelligent Windows PCs ever built.”
2. NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Market cap: US$3.07 trillion; share price: US$124.61
The global leader in graphics processing unit (GPU) technology, NVIDIA is designing specialized chips used to train AI and machine learning models for laptops, workstations, mobile devices, notebooks, and PCs. The company is partnering with a number of big name tech firms to bring a number of key AI products to market.
Through its partnership with Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), NVIDIA is developing AI applications for enterprises, such as language-based services, speech recognition and cybersecurity. The chip maker has been instrumental in the build out of Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:META) AI supercomputer called the Research SuperCluster, which reportedly uses a total of 16,000 of NVIDIA's GPUs.
In the first quarter, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) and NVIDIA released the world's first multi-die chip specifically designed for AI applications: the Blackwell GPU. Blackwell’s architecture allows for the increased processing power needed to train larger and more complex AI models.
In early June, NVIDIA saw its market cap zoom past the US$3 trillion mark to surpass that of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). On June 18, its valuation jumped to as high as US$3.34 trillion to briefly pass Microsoft before pulling back.
3. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)
Market cap: US$2.3 trillion; share price: US$185.14
Alphabet holds court with both Microsoft and NVIDIA as part of the tech sector’s Magnificent 7, and its foray into AI has similarly brought the tech giant much success. Alphabet's market cap surpassed the US$2 trillion mark in April.
It would seem investors still remain confident in the potential for growth in Alphabet’s AI ventures despite its hiccups in the rollout of its subsidiary Google’s AI chatbot Gemini, formerly called Bard. “While the headlines haven’t been favorable, Google’s role in generative AI products will present massive growth opportunities for the stock,” said Sylvia Jablonski, chief executive officer at Defiance ETFs.
In early April, Google introduced a custom AI chip designed for its cloud services customers. Set to be delivered later this year, the technology uses British semiconductor company Arm Holding's (NASDAQ:ARM) AI architecture. In the same week, Google revealed its new A3 Mega AI processor based on NVIDIA’s H100 Technology.
Canadian AI stocks
Recognized as a world-leading AI research hub, Canada ranks fifth out of 62 countries in the Global AI Index. Since 2017, the Canadian government has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into accelerating the research and commercialization of AI technology in the country through the Pan-Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy.
Recent research by IBM (NYSE:IBM) says Canadian businesses are increasingly adopting AI, with 37 percent of IT professionals in large enterprises reporting that they have deployed the technology in their operations.
Below are three of the top Canadian AI stocks.
1. CGI (TSX:GIB.A)
Market cap: C$31.42 billion; share price: C$137.44
Montreal-based CGI is among the world’s largest IT systems integration companies, and offers a wide range of services, from cloud migration and digital transformation to data analysis, fraud detection and even supply chain optimization. Its more than 700 clients span the retail, wholesale, consumer packaged goods and consumer services sectors worldwide.
Through a partnership with Google, CGI is leveraging the Google Cloud Platform to strengthen the capabilities of its CGI PulseAI solution, which can be integrated with existing applications and workflows.
CGI is aggressively working to expand its generative AI capabilities and client offerings, and reportedly is planning to invest US$1 billion into its AI offerings. In early March, the company launched Elements360 ARC-IBA, an AI powered platform for brokers and insurers to settle accounts in the UK broking industry.
2. Descartes Systems Group (TSX:DSG)
Market cap: C$11.14 billion; share price: C$133.15
Descartes Systems Group provides on-demand software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions. The multinational technology company specializes in logistics software, supply chain management software and cloud-based services for logistics businesses.
AI and machine learning enhancements to Descartes’ routing, mobile and telematics suite are helping the company’s customers optimize fleet performance.
“AI and ML are perfect extensions to our advanced route optimization and execution capabilities,” Ken Wood, executive vice president at Descartes, said. “From dynamic delivery appointment scheduling through planning and real-time route execution, we’ve used AI and ML to improve our ability to deliver the next level of fleet performance for customers.”
3. OpenText (TSX:OTEX)
Market cap: C$11.08 billion; share price: C$40.86
Ontario-based OpenText is one of Canada’s largest software companies. The tech firm develops and sells enterprise information management software. Its portfolio includes hundreds of products in the areas of enterprise content management, digital process automation and security, plus AI and analytics tools. OpenText serves small businesses, large enterprises and governments alike.
OpenText's AI & Analytics platform has an open architecture that enables integration with other AI services, including Google Cloud and Azure. It can leverage all types of data, including structured or unstructured data, big data and the internet of things to quickly create interactive visuals.
Early in the year, OpenText launched its Cloud Editions 24.1, which includes enhancements to its OpenText Aviator portfolio.
"Leveraging AI for impactful results depends on reliable data – without it, even the most skilled data scientists will struggle,” OpenText CEO and chief technology officer Mark J. Barrenechea stated. “By expanding the Aviator portfolio in conjunction with our world class information management platform, Cloud Editions 24.1 empowers customers with the tools and insights needed to get ahead."
Australian AI stocks
AI investment in Australia is expected to reach AU$5.7 billion in 2026, according to research firm IDC. The biggest spenders when it comes to AI in Australia are the banking industry, the federal government, professional services and retail.
Below are three of the top Australian AI stocks.
1. Xero (ASX:XRO)
Market cap: AU$20.51 billion; share price: AU$135.44
New Zealand-based technology company Xero provides cloud-based accounting software for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s product portfolio also includes the Xero Accounting app, Xero HQ, Xero Ledger, Xero Workpapers and Xero tax tools.
Xero has made a number of AI enhancements to its platform in recent years, including bank reconciliation predictions that save time and reduce errors, and Analytics Plus, a suite of AI-powered planning and forecasting tools.
In March, the company launched its Gen AI assistant, named Just Ask Xero, or JAX. Some of its features include the automation or streamlining of repetitive and time-consuming tasks; the ability to anticipate tasks based on previous user actions and the ability to make cashflow projections on request.
2. TechnologyOne (ASX:TNE)
Market cap: AU$5.96 billion; share price: AU$18.45
TechnologyOne is another large enterprise technology software firm in Australia. In fact, it is the country’s largest enterprise resource planning SaaS company. TechnologyOne has a client base of over 1,200, including customers in the government, education, health and financial services sectors across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. The company’s research and development center is targeting cloud-based technology, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Municipalities such as Shoalhaven in the UK are using TechnologyOne AI-based SaaS solutions to manage city services, including waste management and road maintenance.
TechnologyOne's H1 2024 financial results highlighted its 15th year of record first half revenue, profit and SaaS fees.
3. Wee Bit (ASX:WBT)
Market cap: AU$647.6 million; share price: AU$2.43
Israeli semiconductor IP company Weebit Nano develops silicon oxide-based resistive random-access memory (ReRAM) technologies. The company seeks to address the need for significantly higher-performance and lower-power computer memory technology.
Weebit's products can be used to enable edge AI applications and AI systems such as neuromorphic computing. An advancement in AI and machine learning, neuromorphic computing is based on architectures designed to function in the same way as the human brain’s operation.
Weebit says its ReRAM cell “functions similarly to a synapse in the brain, making it a promising solution for neuromorphic computing.” The company is collaborating with research partners in academia and industry to further develop the use of ReRAM for neuromorphic computing.
FAQs for AI stocks
Which company is leading the AI race?
Google and Microsoft are battling it out for king of the AI hill. While Goldman Sachs sees Alphabet’s Google as leading the AI race, other analysts are pointing to Microsoft as the clear frontrunner. Microsoft stands to benefit in a big way from its billions of dollars investment in OpenAI's ChatGPT as advancements in generative AI may have the potential to increase the company's revenues for its Azure cloud computing business.
Which country is doing best in AI?
North America is the global hotspot for advancements in AI technology and is home to the majority of the world’s largest AI providers. Of the countries in this region, Canada’s AI industry is showing the fastest growth, according to a report by Deloitte. Techopedia positions the US as the primary hub for AI development, and many of the world’s leading tech giants are headquartered there. According to the report, China comes in a close second.
What is Elon Musk's AI company?
In November 2023, Elon Musk launched Grok, a new AI technology company based in Nevada. While not much is known about the company yet, Musk said he is starting it as a "third option" to ChatGPT and Google Gemini; its product will be named TruthGPT.
Does Tesla have its own AI?
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has developed proprietary AI chips and neural network architecture. The company’s autonomous vehicle AI system gathers visual data in real time from eight cameras to produce a 3D output that helps to identify the presence and motion of obstacles, lanes and traffic lights. The AI-driven models also help autonomous vehicles make quick decisions. In addition to developing autonomous vehicles, Tesla is working on bi-pedal robotics.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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