Anthony Pompliano

Is AI Taking Money & Attention Away From Bitcoin?

🇬🇧 EN🇪🇸 ES
AIBitcoinMacro
52:25 min youtube 2026 Week 21 🇬🇧 EN

TL;DR

  • AI is a productivity tool, not just a cost reducer: The narrative of mass job loss is refuted; human engineering and specialized skills will be the critical differentiators.
  • Infrastructure drives investment: Bullish views are supported by real-world demand for chips and memory components, fueling a decade-long buildout centered on hyperscalers and supply chain solutions.
  • Risk management is key: Investors must prioritize deep fundamental work and diversification over reacting to short-term market sentiment or technological hype.

Summary

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScBFACE6OOU  |  Duration: 52 min

â—† The Spatial Revolution & AI Adoption

Dan Ives discusses how SpaceX is defining a new sector through orbital data centers, viewing its future potential as a spatial revolution converging with technology. He posits that a merger between SpaceX and Tesla could create unmatched computing power in space using solar energy and Starlink infrastructure.

A major hurdle to AI adoption is the self-created anti-AI narrative, where industry leaders fuel fears of job loss rather than focusing on AI's role in monetization and productivity. Ives argues that while some jobs may shift, AI should be viewed as a tool for benefit, not just cost reduction.

In terms of global competition, the US currently leads China in AI models and software, though China excels in hardware applications like robotics and power generation. This technological advantage supports a multi-year bull market driven by widespread AI adoption across various industries.

â–¶ Global Trends, Investment Focus, and Macro Risks

AI adoption is moving from consumer models like ChatGPT to physical applications such as self-driving cars and embedded phone AI, though regulatory hurdles remain a significant challenge globally. The pace of innovation is heavily influenced by political environments; pro-innovation administrations accelerate development, while strict regulations in places like Europe slow progress.

Investment opportunities are centered on hyperscalers and companies solving supply shortages, particularly in chips and memory components, viewing the current market as year three of a decade-long AI buildout. The trend is highly globalized, democratizing access to investment themes across different regions.

⚠️ Critical Market Risks Alert: Despite this bullish technology outlook, investors must navigate macroeconomic risks like persistent inflation from geopolitical conflicts and potential shifts in monetary policy due to new Fed leadership. Success requires deep fundamental work to identify true winners rather than reacting solely to short-term market sentiment.

★ Economic Reshaping and Asset Allocation

Automation and AI are fundamentally reshaping the economy by squeezing inefficiencies out of sectors like finance, leading to an arms race between new technology and traditional companies. Regarding Bitcoin versus the AI trade, the speaker frames it as a matter of risk asset allocation across different investment cycles rather than capital diversion.

Field observations in Asia confirmed strong demand for memory and chips, supporting bullish views based on real-world supply data. Key concerns about the AI trend include tech companies' hubris regarding job cuts and potential regulatory pushback that could impede necessary data center construction.

💡 Investment Thesis Refutation: The speaker strongly refutes dystopian fears of mass job loss, arguing that human engineering and specialized skills will become the critical differentiators as models commoditize. Ultimately, massive platforms like Apple are positioned to benefit simply by collecting tolls from their huge installed user base, regardless of whether they lead the AI innovation race.

â–º Big Tech Strategy and Investment Roadmap

The conversation addresses the evolving landscape of big tech, noting Apple's potential as an undervalued player and how companies are shifting to build their own vertical stacks rather than relying solely on partnerships for AI. The democratization of data is seen as a major opportunity, potentially leading to new industry leaders.

Key Investment Entities & Roles

Entity Role in AI/Tech Thesis
SpaceX Orbital Data Centers / Infrastructure Defining a new spatial revolution through computing power in space.
Apple Massive Platform / Toll Collector Positioned to benefit significantly by collecting tolls from its huge installed user base.
Bitcoin Risk Asset / Alternative Cycle Play Framed as a matter of risk asset allocation across different investment cycles, not capital diversion from AI.

Actionable Investment Guidance

  • Focus on Diversification: Always prioritize diversification and understanding risk, citing historical masters who prioritize risk management above all else.
  • Utilize Research Roadmaps: For the AI trade, use resources like the AIVS AI 30 research to track names across chips, software, and infrastructure.
  • Maintain Broad Perspective: While data is abundant, maintain a broad perspective, often gained through studying history, as crucial for navigating market volatility.

â—† Search for the alpha

The core thesis visible in capital allocation is a structural shift away from betting solely on AI software innovation and toward investing in the physical, foundational infrastructure required to power it. Capital should flow into companies that solve supply shortages (chips/memory) and established platforms capable of monetizing massive user bases through tolls, regardless of their internal technological leadership.

  • The most robust investment theme is centered on the AI buildout's supply chain—specifically hyperscalers and manufacturers solving critical bottlenecks in chips and memory components.
  • Capital should prioritize companies that are building vertical stacks to control data flow and infrastructure rather than relying solely on external partnerships for AI capabilities.
  • The market cycle is viewed as Year Three of a decade-long, globalized AI buildout; thus, the time horizon justifies deep fundamental work over short-term sentiment trading.
  • A key regime change catalyst is the transition of AI from consumer models (like ChatGPT) to embedded and physical applications (self-driving cars, industrial automation).
  • Investors should maintain a broad perspective and prioritize risk management above all else, viewing Bitcoin vs. AI as an issue of cyclical asset allocation rather than capital diversion.
Asset Category Signal Reading
Hyperscalers / Chips Bullish Sector Focus Strong demand confirmed by real-world supply data (Asia observations).
Memory Components High Demand/Supply Chain Winner Critical bottleneck in AI infrastructure buildout.
Apple Undervalued Platform Play Positioned to benefit simply by collecting tolls from its massive installed user base, regardless of internal AI race status.
The twist: The guest implicitly suggests that the narrative surrounding job loss and anti-AI sentiment is a distraction from where real value creation lies. While AI may commoditize specialized skills, the true winners are those who control the physical infrastructure (chips/data centers) or possess massive installed user bases capable of generating predictable revenue streams through tolls.

â–º Chapter Summaries

Part 1 (0:00)

Dan Ives discusses how SpaceX is defining a new sector through orbital data centers, viewing its future potential as a spatial revolution converging with technology. He posits that a merger between SpaceX and Tesla could create unmatched computing power in space using solar energy and Starlink infrastructure. A major hurdle to AI adoption is the self-created anti-AI narrative, where industry leaders fuel fears of job loss rather than focusing on AI's role in monetization and productivity. Ives argues that while some jobs may shift, AI should be viewed as a tool for benefit, not just cost reduction. In terms of global competition, the US currently leads China in AI models and software, though China excels in hardware applications like robotics and power generation. This technological advantage supports a multi-year bull market driven by widespread AI adoption across various industries.

Part 2 (15:00)

AI adoption is moving from consumer models like ChatGPT to physical applications such as self-driving cars and embedded phone AI, though regulatory hurdles remain a significant challenge globally. The pace of innovation is heavily influenced by political environments; pro-innovation administrations accelerate development, while strict regulations in places like Europe slow progress. Investment opportunities are centered on hyperscalers and companies solving supply shortages, particularly in chips and memory components, viewing the current market as year three of a decade-long AI buildout. The trend is highly globalized, democratizing access to investment themes across different regions. Despite this bullish technology outlook, investors must navigate macroeconomic risks like persistent inflation from geopolitical conflicts and potential shifts in monetary policy due to new Fed leadership. Success requires deep fundamental work to identify true winners rather than reacting solely to short-term market sentiment.

Part 3 (30:00)

Automation and AI are fundamentally reshaping the economy by squeezing inefficiencies out of sectors like finance, leading to an arms race between new technology and traditional companies. Regarding Bitcoin versus the AI trade, the speaker frames it as a matter of risk asset allocation across different investment cycles rather than capital diversion. Field observations in Asia confirmed strong demand for memory and chips, supporting bullish views based on real-world supply data. Key concerns about the AI trend include tech companies' hubris regarding job cuts and potential regulatory pushback that could impede necessary data center construction. The speaker strongly refutes dystopian fears of mass job loss, arguing that human engineering and specialized skills will become the critical differentiators as models commoditize. Ultimately, massive platforms like Apple are positioned to benefit simply by collecting tolls from their huge installed user base, regardless of whether they lead the AI innovation race.

Part 4 (45:00)

The conversation addresses the evolving landscape of big tech, noting Apple's potential as an undervalued player and how companies are shifting to build their own vertical stacks rather than relying solely on partnerships for AI. The democratization of data is seen as a major opportunity, potentially leading to new industry leaders. For investors interested in the AI trade, the AIVS AI 30 research provides a roadmap tracking names across chips, software, and infrastructure. When discussing individual investing, the emphasis remains strongly on diversification and understanding risk, citing historical masters who prioritize risk management above all else. The speaker advises that while data is abundant, maintaining a broad perspective, often gained through studying history, is crucial for navigating market volatility.

Generated with algorithm v1-chunked · model google/gemma-4-e4b · 2026-05-21T11:02:40Z

Transcript

[0:00] Remember, what Anthropic's done is
[0:02] unbelievable, but you start that type of
[0:05] fear, that's the thing. Then all of a
[0:07] sudden, data centers don't get built.
[0:09] You have politicians get more focused on
[0:11] regulation of models. You start to go
[0:14] closer to Europe from a data privacy
[0:16] perspective. Meanwhile, China at that
[0:17] point is like foot on the pedal going
[0:19] That's the thing that to me that I worry
[0:22] about the most is the [music]
[0:24] self-created PR problem.
[0:27] What's going on, guys? Today, we've got
[0:28] a great conversation with Dan Ives. He's
[0:30] the head of tech research at Wedbush,
[0:31] and in this conversation, we dive deep
[0:33] into the AI trade. He explains what he's
[0:35] excited about, what he's worried about.
[0:37] He shows you where there is actual
[0:39] capital flowing, and then he takes us
[0:41] around the world as he goes on a trip
[0:43] and he tries to understand what's
[0:44] happening on the ground. We also talk
[0:46] about the impact from the macro
[0:47] environment, what's going on with
[0:48] Bitcoin and crypto, and then Dan zooms
[0:50] out and explains what needs to change in
[0:52] order for AI to become more adopted
[0:54] globally and actually usher in the age
[0:56] of abundance that everyone's so excited
[0:58] about. Here's my latest conversation
[1:00] with Dan Ives.
[1:01] Dan, let's start with SpaceX. Obviously,
[1:03] everyone is anticipating this IPO. It's
[1:04] supposed to be the biggest IPO in
[1:06] history. How do you view the positives
[1:08] and negative impact of this company
[1:09] coming public? Look, I mean, this is
[1:11] really it's defining what's going to be
[1:13] a new sector, no different than tech or
[1:17] retail, it's space. And I think there's
[1:20] misnomers because to me, SpaceX is going
[1:22] to be about defining space in terms of
[1:25] data centers in space.
[1:27] The business components, not necessarily
[1:29] we're talking like joyrides in space
[1:31] for, you know, 20 seconds. And it's
[1:34] really going to be almost a convergence
[1:37] of tech
[1:38] and this new sort of, you know, what I
[1:41] view is like a like a spatial
[1:43] revolution. It all starts with SpaceX.
[1:46] Look, there's so many names like Planet
[1:48] Labs, Rocket Labs, Voyager, whatever,
[1:51] and this is just the start, but it comes
[1:53] down like from Musk, it's it's a
[1:56] watershed moment, not just for him,
[1:59] but what I view is kind of for the
[2:01] market and really it's starting to now
[2:03] create a whole 'nother category in terms
[2:06] of what this is going to mean. So, the
[2:08] company started off as just rocket
[2:10] launches and trying to make reusable
[2:11] rockets and cheaper uh launches, but now
[2:13] it went into satellites and then there's
[2:15] almost this like big promise of the
[2:17] orbital data centers. And it seems like
[2:19] that's coming right at the time where
[2:20] everyone on Earth is like, "Hey, we may
[2:21] not have enough space or power or data
[2:23] centers." And so, how much of this is
[2:25] evaluating the existing business versus
[2:28] people buying into the future vision of
[2:29] what it could be? 80% of it, future.
[2:33] Interesting.
[2:34] If you look at it currently, are you
[2:37] would you at $2 trillion or $1.5
[2:39] trillion? Would you? No. In other words,
[2:40] it goes back to like what will this
[2:43] become?
[2:44] >> [clears throat]
[2:44] >> But then it comes down to like if you
[2:46] bought Intel when you know, you as put
[2:50] its stake, it wasn't just on that. It
[2:52] was like, "Can they become a player in
[2:54] AI?"
[2:55] With Nvidia, it wasn't just about like
[2:58] going after AI. It's like, "What
[2:59] eventually will happen if they're able
[3:01] to not just monetize enterprise, but
[3:03] create physical AI when it comes to
[3:05] chips?" So, I think that continues to
[3:07] really be the focus for SpaceX because
[3:10] it's Musk. And then we've talked about
[3:13] like we view it, we've said 80% 85
[3:17] that SpaceX to merge eventually with
[3:21] Tesla in 2027. Yeah, so you think 80-85%
[3:25] of SpaceX Tesla merging in 2027. Not
[3:27] like just some point in the future, but
[3:28] literally by next year. Because I think
[3:30] it's important that to just take a step
[3:33] back. Like, why is there a trial
[3:35] Musk-Altman? This despite like personal
[3:38] beef and just all the things that have
[3:40] happened there. I mean, a lot of it
[3:42] really comes down to
[3:44] Anthropic
[3:46] OpenAI
[3:47] then it will down here. It's like xAI or
[3:49] SpaceX
[3:51] AI.
[3:52] So, now it's like, "How are you going to
[3:54] converge?" No different what has Google
[3:56] done with Gemini?
[3:58] Data.
[3:59] Data is the new oil and gold.
[4:01] You converge, merge SpaceX and Tesla
[4:06] from a data perspective, forget all the
[4:08] hyperboles and everything like biggest
[4:09] IPO ever.
[4:11] This would really create from a data
[4:13] perspective
[4:15] so that will be unmatched that I believe
[4:17] will enable Musk to really narrow the
[4:20] gap from a model perspective versus an
[4:23] Anthropic Open AI. It's hard to tell how
[4:25] much of this is like a master plan that
[4:26] he had versus he's just going building
[4:29] these companies identifying areas that
[4:30] need to be solved and then expanding
[4:32] into them. But let's say these two
[4:33] companies do come together and it's I
[4:35] don't know Musk Industries or what
[4:37] whatever you want to call it. But
[4:38] basically he's able to launch at a very
[4:41] low cost into space. So, he can get both
[4:43] satellites and data centers up there. He
[4:45] then is able to use all the solar
[4:47] capabilities from Tesla and SolarCity
[4:49] and all of that in space, capture the
[4:52] energy of the sun, create the compute in
[4:55] space and those orbital data centers,
[4:57] then beam it down via the satellite
[4:59] technology he has with Starlink, and
[5:01] then he goes all the way to the end
[5:03] consumer where he is literally talking
[5:04] about humanoid robots and self-driving
[5:06] cars. And crazy. And that also tech
[5:10] companies, whether it's Google,
[5:12] Microsoft
[5:13] tech companies ultimately, how else are
[5:16] you getting into space? Like the the the
[5:18] palm spaceship? Like the [clears throat]
[5:20] point is like
[5:21] Never know. I mean within the studio.
[5:23] But the point is like it comes down to
[5:25] like that will start to be. You saw it
[5:28] like with from a technology partnership
[5:30] perspective in terms of where SpaceX is
[5:32] ultimately going. And that's why I view
[5:35] SpaceX or just that broader sector as
[5:38] almost like second, third, fourth
[5:40] derivative plays off AI revolution
[5:42] that's happening in tech. I don't view
[5:43] them as separate. And I actually think
[5:46] when you think about a theme being 5,
[5:49] 10, 15 year theme.
[5:51] >> Mhm. Now, one of the things I find
[5:52] interesting is there's so much like
[5:54] anti-AI narrative out there. There's
[5:56] both the data centers which people are
[5:58] worried about electricity cost, water,
[6:00] noise, you know, environmental impact. I
[6:03] also think that there's maybe some
[6:04] distrust of oh, I've heard this before
[6:06] of you're going to create jobs or
[6:08] economic activity. At the same time,
[6:10] there is a lot of just plain anti-AI
[6:13] narrative, right? Not even the data
[6:14] center stuff, just like I don't think
[6:16] this is good or I think this is going to
[6:17] take my job, etc. How do you think that
[6:20] we overcome that, right? Well, first of,
[6:23] I think a lot of it is actually
[6:25] self-created by the industry.
[6:27] When you have Dario from Anthropic
[6:29] saying 20, 30% job loss, Mustafa from
[6:32] Microsoft saying like we're going to all
[6:35] white collar you know, white collar sort
[6:37] of jobs are ultimately going to be, you
[6:39] know, done relative to AI in the next 18
[6:42] months. Guess what? You do that,
[6:45] that's where you continue to go further
[6:48] and further down the tone of pole when
[6:49] it comes to survey data. Because it
[6:51] comes down to the average US consumer.
[6:55] What's in it for me? Am I going to lose
[6:57] my job? My electricity bill is going to
[6:58] be higher? Huge PR issues. And guess
[7:01] what? When you create that,
[7:03] you have a lot of issues in the beltway.
[7:05] Regulatory.
[7:06] Then you got to get build the data
[7:08] centers. Locally has to get approved.
[7:11] You continue to do this, data centers
[7:13] don't get built. So, Now, you're not
[7:16] talking about like
[7:17] in our lifetime you go back multiple
[7:19] lifetimes. Like the only mean is polio,
[7:22] right? Can you cure cancer, dementia,
[7:25] Parkinson's with AI? That's obviously
[7:27] huge positive. There's going to be more
[7:28] data centers, you know, that are built
[7:31] today than active data centers. The
[7:32] jobs, the ripple effect, the
[7:34] restaurants, so many towns throughout
[7:36] the US.
[7:37] But that's not being talked about. A lot
[7:40] of it is PR issues that you can and I've
[7:45] told some of these companies like
[7:47] that can never talk externally because
[7:51] that is a negative for the industry and
[7:53] I think that a lot of this is
[7:55] self-created. There's fear AI fear and
[7:58] that's why you saw it with the Schmidt
[8:00] like the commencement speech and the
[8:02] booing. Yeah, of course, if you're a
[8:04] I speak in many colleges around the
[8:06] country. I would tell people like
[8:08] there's going to be more jobs over the
[8:09] coming years created but right now it is
[8:13] a huge issue. What's fascinating to me
[8:15] is I saw Iron, you know, the data center
[8:17] provider and and power generation
[8:19] company. They just bought a marketing
[8:21] and kind of branding studio and I've got
[8:24] to imagine that is specifically because
[8:26] they realized that a huge part of the
[8:28] future success of their business is
[8:29] going to come down to how do they
[8:30] communicate to local communities or
[8:32] local politicians about what they're
[8:34] trying to do? 100% and then also it's
[8:36] like let's say pump in the streets,
[8:39] okay?
[8:40] Company all of a sudden like get
[8:43] everyone together in all hands meeting.
[8:44] We're we're we're going to launch quad
[8:47] as a test trial run.
[8:49] What does the average consumer or the
[8:52] average person in that company think?
[8:54] Does that mean my job's at risk? No, see
[8:57] that's part of the problem. You need
[8:58] companies be like efficiency
[9:00] monetization. How are we going to be
[9:02] able to do it? That's a huge part of the
[9:04] issue that I hear not just but it's from
[9:07] investors as well and you need this to
[9:10] be something that's viewed as like it's
[9:12] an arms race US versus China and we said
[9:15] first time in 30 years US is ahead, you
[9:18] know, when it comes to tech versus
[9:19] China.
[9:20] But they need they need to get their act
[9:22] together broader tech in terms of the
[9:24] communication. Ironically like when you
[9:27] look at like what's going on I think a
[9:29] lot of that
[9:31] 78% of that is self-created and you
[9:35] create the narrative. You don't go on 60
[9:38] minutes to, you know,
[9:40] you know, talk about a cartoon, right?
[9:43] Like the point is like when you go on
[9:44] there and you scare people like Dario
[9:46] did, that's that's part of the issue.
[9:47] Yeah. It's so fascinating because one of
[9:49] the things that I'm very focused on is
[9:50] showing people how do you connect the
[9:52] adoption of artificial intelligence
[9:53] product to you making more money. And my
[9:56] whole theory has been if everyone is
[9:58] telling you you're going to lose your
[10:00] job, there's all these negative impact,
[10:01] then you have to look at AI as a tool.
[10:03] And so it's it can hurt some people, but
[10:06] those who adopt it and use it correctly
[10:07] are actually going to be able to
[10:08] benefit. And so we were talking
[10:09] beforehand, you know, this product
[10:11] Silvia that we built, it people go to
[10:13] cfosilvia.com, they attach their
[10:15] portfolio, and they start talking to an
[10:17] artificial intelligence model that is
[10:18] personalized to their portfolio. And we
[10:20] see in the data, the more they talk to
[10:22] it, the faster their net worth grows.
[10:23] 70% is And I was giving it 70% of the
[10:27] use cases that we see on enterprise are
[10:29] monetization, revenue enhance. They're
[10:32] not cost car
[10:34] They look, there's going to be a lot of
[10:35] companies that use it as kind of like to
[10:37] whitewash, right? Or they're going to be
[10:39] like, "We're going to Do you believe the
[10:41] CEOs who are saying they're firing
[10:42] people because of AI?"
[10:43] 20% of it.
[10:44] >> 20%. So 80% of the CEOs who say they're
[10:46] firing someone because of AI is actually
[10:49] just over hiring or mismanagement
[10:50] previously.
[10:51] >> Whatever. It's like the point is like
[10:52] But guess what? Like if it eventually
[10:54] models become commoditized, Mhm. if
[10:57] company A has the same models company B,
[10:59] C, D, what differentiates it? It's what
[11:01] goes up and down the elevator every day.
[11:03] It's the engineering talent, it's the
[11:04] product. So the point is like you're
[11:06] going to see a lot of companies that
[11:08] went way over. And we're not talking
[11:09] about big tech where these companies
[11:11] essentially hired cities
[11:14] over the course of the last four or five
[11:16] years. But that's why like you know, me
[11:18] and you have talked, you know, for years
[11:19] about like you got to separate like
[11:20] reality versus, you know, fiction.
[11:24] The point is like this is something from
[11:25] a productivity perspective, to
[11:28] monetization, to the jobs ultimately
[11:30] that will be created from data centers,
[11:32] from build out, from new companies. You
[11:34] could be a 23-year-old right now. You
[11:36] don't need 20, 30 million in seed
[11:37] capital. You got quality of an engineer
[11:40] or two. Who knows what you could build.
[11:42] Democratization has happened across the
[11:43] board. And for the first time in 30
[11:45] years, US is ahead of China when it
[11:48] comes to tech, which is very, very
[11:49] important in terms of what this all
[11:52] means.
[11:53] >> You You said that twice, that the United
[11:54] States is ahead of China now when it
[11:56] comes to artificial intelligence. How do
[11:57] you measure that? I mean, a lot of it
[11:59] comes down to what There's one chip in
[12:01] the world fueling the AI revolution.
[12:02] It's Godfather of AI engines, Nvidia. A
[12:05] third-rate Nvidia chip is a year and a
[12:07] half, 2 years ahead of Huawei. Like an
[12:09] H200.
[12:11] When you think about
[12:12] Anthropic, the hyperscalers, the
[12:15] software, Palantir among others.
[12:18] You look when you go go to China,
[12:20] robotics, they're leading. Mhm.
[12:23] Power, because of nuclear, they're
[12:25] leading.
[12:27] That's where it kind of stops.
[12:29] >> think that China is leading when it
[12:30] comes to the hardware and application of
[12:33] AI for robotics. And then you think
[12:34] they're leading when it comes to power
[12:35] generation, but you think that the
[12:37] United States is winning in terms of the
[12:38] models and the software.
[12:40] >> the software, the chips. That's also why
[12:42] like when Trump and Xi meet, they
[12:44] recognize I need you, you need me. Cuz
[12:47] guess what? Middle East, India, you
[12:49] know, obviously everyone's trying to
[12:51] think who's going to be the number three
[12:53] player.
[12:54] This is third inning, one out
[12:57] in a nine-inning game. The point is like
[13:00] that's where we are relative to AI, and
[13:01] it speaks to my overall like bull
[13:03] thesis. And we've talked about it is
[13:06] that
[13:07] you're going to go through these,
[13:09] whether it's liberation day, Iran,
[13:12] 10-year wars coming in,
[13:15] whatever. But the reality is like we
[13:18] This is a multi-year bull market
[13:20] relative to what's happening in tech,
[13:22] but also it's the derivatives, cuz that
[13:24] will go across financials, health care.
[13:28] companies. You like, what? They're
[13:29] trading at this? Because now all of a
[13:31] sudden some of these are utility
[13:32] companies are the derivative AI
[13:34] multiples going to increase across the
[13:36] board. Dude, these companies that don't
[13:38] embrace it, dude typewriters, they're
[13:40] epic. This computer thing's a joke. Dude
[13:43] that was doing horses back before my LT.
[13:46] Yo, this whole car thing's a joke. The
[13:47] point is like
[13:49] that will play itself out for those
[13:51] companies.
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[15:03] Now let's talk about robotics because I
[15:05] think what's very interesting is in the
[15:06] United States we've seen the Figure
[15:07] AI's, the
[15:09] uh Apptronics, right? We we've seen some
[15:10] of these companies, obviously Tesla's
[15:12] got their humanoid robot. Um but also
[15:15] people kind of forget that there's an
[15:16] entire self-driving car revolution. And
[15:19] I've seen a ton of companies, whether
[15:21] they're building a net new car, whether
[15:22] they are trying to write software in an
[15:24] asset-light model, and then get it into
[15:26] the production of other people
[15:27] manufacturing cars, trucks. And then I'm
[15:29] even seeing a lot of these like semis
[15:31] and and kind of long-haul trucking
[15:33] self-driving cars. Is that the first
[15:35] area where the average American is going
[15:37] to interact with like robotics? Is
[15:40] actually in self-driving cars? Yeah,
[15:41] [clears throat] so and even take a step
[15:43] further back like the average consumer,
[15:46] okay, you've played around with ChatGPT
[15:49] and tropic different models. But where
[15:52] it all will start like when Apple
[15:53] ultimately releases the Gemini in terms
[15:56] of the model that that will be on, you
[15:58] know,
[15:58] at WWDC, that will be the start of
[16:01] what's going to happen like eventually
[16:03] miles will be on the phone, Mhm.
[16:05] storage, applications are going to get
[16:07] built, AI-driven applications,
[16:10] healthcare, financials, fitness across
[16:12] the board.
[16:14] So that's where you're going to see more
[16:15] and more used from a consumer
[16:16] perspective. But when it comes to
[16:18] physical AI, it's autonomous. I mean,
[16:21] that will be the first true interaction
[16:25] with a And there's some obviously have
[16:26] done Waymos in different cities, but
[16:29] that's why Tesla and robotaxis are so
[16:31] important. But then also it comes down
[16:33] to like regulatory.
[16:35] Cuz regulatory right now it's state.
[16:38] Mhm.
[16:38] You need federal. You need executive
[16:41] order from Trump to make this on the
[16:44] federal side. And I think that's a
[16:46] That's a huge missing piece versus what
[16:48] we see in China. One of the things
[16:50] people are excited about at the federal
[16:51] government level, but also there's a lot
[16:52] of critiques about are there a lot of
[16:54] technologists and private sector
[16:56] individuals who have gone into the
[16:57] federal government. And so I think that
[16:59] the people who are excited about this
[17:00] would argue hey these people understand
[17:01] the technology, they understand kind of
[17:03] how important private industry is, and
[17:05] they are trying to streamline, get rid
[17:07] of waste, and accelerate a lot of the
[17:09] innovation industries. On the other
[17:11] hand, I think that the critiques are hey
[17:13] there's as much people who are going in
[17:14] they're investors in a lot of companies,
[17:16] they've got a lot of connections and
[17:17] friends and there's all these, you know,
[17:18] kind of complexities of them being
[17:21] involved. Given that Trump now has just
[17:23] about 2 years left in office, is this a
[17:25] thing where if we have a pro-innovation,
[17:28] pro-technology administration, they
[17:30] should accelerate and get as much of
[17:31] this done as they possibly can from a
[17:33] regulation standpoint because there's a
[17:34] worry that maybe the next administration
[17:36] won't be as friendly or do you think
[17:38] that this has now reached a point where
[17:40] it doesn't matter, you know, red or
[17:42] blue's in office, it's going to be
[17:44] people embracing technology? Look, I
[17:46] think people are going to embrace
[17:48] technology, but it does it is very
[17:50] political Mhm. you know, sort of
[17:53] navigation is very important because
[17:56] it goes back to like you need a
[17:58] pro-innovation
[18:00] administration. And that's why like when
[18:03] you see Jensen and Cook and Musk and
[18:05] obviously the other CEOs in the China
[18:07] trip, I view that as bullish. They
[18:09] understand technology as well as that
[18:10] best person in the world.
[18:12] If you start to put, Mhm.
[18:15] >> in the gears and slow it down,
[18:18] look at Europe.
[18:19] They're building blockbuster videos
[18:20] there
[18:22] because of regulatory,
[18:24] because of, you know, just worry about
[18:26] data private and I see the frustration
[18:28] first hand in Europe because like if
[18:30] you're an innovator,
[18:32] entrepreneur,
[18:33] what in Europe is like you have to move
[18:35] to Middle East, US, Mhm. you know, Asia.
[18:40] So, it's very important, it's foot on
[18:43] the pedal
[18:44] on AI. Guess what? Cuz look at China.
[18:48] And you fall behind, but then a key part
[18:50] of that is data centers. That's why it
[18:53] all kind of goes where we start start
[18:55] talk about is like when you go like
[18:57] anti-data center because of PR, protest
[19:01] demonstrations, I love AI I love data
[19:04] centers is not in my backyard.
[19:06] That's a huge piece because guess what?
[19:09] The way this is all works,
[19:11] data center without data centers, it's
[19:13] the hearts and lungs of AI. Mhm. So, it
[19:15] just it all kind of factors into what's
[19:18] going on here. It'll be a a big thing in
[19:21] terms of midterms.
[19:23] And of course, you know, when we go into
[19:25] like, you know, presidential election,
[19:26] but this is like a key time cuz I just
[19:29] keep going back to like so much of my
[19:31] life.
[19:33] Spent time like in Asia.
[19:35] You know, you're in Taiwan. You see the
[19:37] fabs. You see the efficiency. You see
[19:41] You know, and then you come back here.
[19:44] Like I was like land in New York
[19:45] airport, go to Dunkin' Donuts, and
[19:47] there's like a fist fight at Dunkin'
[19:49] Donuts, and then you wonder why we're
[19:50] 17th in math. So, the point is like now
[19:53] for the first time
[19:55] we're ahead. Now, when we think about um
[19:57] so much of this industry accelerating,
[20:00] that's great to talk about the
[20:01] fundamentals and the trends and the
[20:02] adoption, but people ultimately want to
[20:04] know how do I make money? And so, if we
[20:06] go and we look in the public market,
[20:07] there seems to be uh you know, kind of
[20:09] the hyperscalers, there's some very
[20:10] large tech companies, but now most of
[20:13] the conversation is about going and
[20:14] finding which companies can be the
[20:16] release valve for various shortage
[20:17] pressure. So, whether it's memories or
[20:19] chips or you know, etc. Just walk
[20:21] through maybe when you look at the
[20:23] public market, how do you break down the
[20:25] different uh sectors or verticals of how
[20:27] someone can invest in the AI trade, and
[20:29] then where are you more excited than
[20:31] maybe other areas?
[20:32] >> Yeah.
[20:33] And then and then I look what's happened
[20:34] with software. So, to me it all starts
[20:37] with like chips.
[20:40] At the epicenter, of course, has been
[20:41] Nvidia, but then you have to think This
[20:44] is almost like walking you through it.
[20:45] It's like
[20:46] Okay, like
[20:47] Meta, for every 10 chips they need,
[20:49] Nvidia's going to give them three cuz of
[20:51] supply. Where do they get the others? Is
[20:54] it Google?
[20:55] What about AMD?
[20:57] What about Intel? What about where
[20:59] Micron plays? Sandisk, the memory, the
[21:02] components. You have to think about like
[21:04] it's all it's all a puzzle. Mhm.
[21:06] And all the work we do is what is
[21:09] demand's pie look like in memory.
[21:11] And then it's a super cycle. Are there
[21:13] multiples that are high relative to
[21:15] historical? Yeah, but street
[21:17] underestimates the growth, okay? In
[21:20] terms of what that's going to look like.
[21:22] Then you start to view whether it's like
[21:24] a deep renewal or an iron, like where
[21:26] who are the ultimate players and maybe
[21:29] investors aren't seeing.
[21:31] But then there are trades when it comes
[21:33] to like
[21:34] the street gets wrong, but there are
[21:36] opportunities. I always give an example
[21:38] like
[21:40] we're at RSA conference in March, you
[21:43] know, in San Francisco.
[21:44] That's where like Anthropic mythos comes
[21:48] out to view like Anthropic's going to
[21:50] eat cybersecurity, going to eat
[21:52] software.
[21:54] But that that was a narrative that if
[21:56] you talked to customers, you know it's
[21:59] wrong.
[22:00] Look at CrowdStrike stock today versus
[22:03] where it was in March. Look at Palo
[22:05] Alto.
[22:06] It's a good example of like narratives
[22:09] create opportunities if you do the work.
[22:12] You go back a year ago, New York City
[22:14] cab drivers bearish on Alphabet. DOJ's
[22:17] going to break it up. AI's going to
[22:18] crush search. Gemini's nowhere. Now
[22:21] look, victory parties. I'm just trying
[22:24] to explain in this market
[22:27] it
[22:28] it's a multi-year bull market. We're in
[22:31] year three of a 10-year build out of AI.
[22:34] And it's very important to like try to
[22:37] pick who the winners are, do the work,
[22:40] cuz I think that's how you're able to
[22:42] ultimately make money
[22:43] in these markets. What do you look at
[22:45] like a Bill Ackman buying Microsoft and
[22:47] basically saying, "Look, we still think
[22:49] this is an amazing company that's just
[22:50] dislocated from price and value, and
[22:52] therefore we're going to go and put a
[22:53] position on." Couldn't agree more,
[22:55] because that's it because then it comes
[22:57] down to like Microsoft
[22:59] basically every enterprise in the world
[23:01] runs on Microsoft.
[23:03] As they move to AI as they move to Azure
[23:05] as I believe Nadella one of the best
[23:08] CEOs out there. Copilot has been under
[23:11] you know, underwhelming? Yeah. Are they
[23:14] training wheels of the open AI? Yeah. Is
[23:16] there a lot of noise? Yeah. But I like
[23:18] we've talked about like stock closer to
[23:20] 400. I think it's worth closer to 550 or
[23:23] 600 and like but that's a good example
[23:25] of like you have to be able to see
[23:29] around corners in this market. And then
[23:32] whether it's liberation day, Iran, oil,
[23:36] wars coming in 30 or hitting a certain
[23:39] level, yen that whatever. You have to be
[23:41] able sometimes to like I get the the
[23:44] worries there but tune that out to
[23:46] understand where are the opportunities
[23:49] in front of you. One of the hardest
[23:50] parts I think about investing in these,
[23:52] you know, accelerated bull markets is
[23:54] when you look at a certain stock, you
[23:55] may look at the last 6 months or 12
[23:57] months performance be like wow, it's up
[23:58] a lot already. And so give you some
[24:00] examples. Micron's up 6, 7, 800%. Uh
[24:03] company like Marvell is up 100% in 6
[24:06] months. And so I hear people talking
[24:07] about I'm interested in this company. I
[24:09] think they solve part of the problem for
[24:13] XYZ, you know, part of the industry or a
[24:14] shortage. I'm just really nervous at
[24:16] buying in at 100% higher than it was 6
[24:18] months ago. And then the fear is like
[24:20] it's a musical chairs you don't have a
[24:22] chair.
[24:23] Everyone heads for the elevators. You're
[24:25] waiting a year that so it's like that
[24:27] fear definitely is there but then I give
[24:31] you like on the other side, you have it
[24:32] on the whiteboard you didn't own it.
[24:35] Stock gets hit.
[24:37] Falling knife. Stock gets hit again. Oh,
[24:39] it's done. Negative sentiment whatever.
[24:43] It's very easy to miss
[24:45] the The dry house. But go back to March
[24:49] in terms of like where did Nvidia go?
[24:52] And I ran with I remember like being in
[24:55] Miami early March. I'm speaking at a
[24:57] conference.
[24:59] And
[25:00] you know, sentiment [snorts] so negative
[25:03] because like the Iran thing, oils
[25:06] trade
[25:07] And I remember like people like taking
[25:09] pictures in South Beach being like, "Oh,
[25:11] I can't wait. People they don't realize
[25:13] the longer." I'm like, "Yeah, I've done
[25:16] this since like late night. You start to
[25:18] go down that path, you'll miss and every
[25:20] geopolitical, you'll miss every sort of
[25:23] opportunity."
[25:24] And look at where those stocks traded
[25:26] for its week or two of March. Mhm. And
[25:30] it's May. Like you we're not talking
[25:32] like 10 years ago.
[25:33] >> Mhm. One of the other things I find
[25:35] interesting um is how global this
[25:37] phenomenon is. And so for example, we
[25:39] saw Roundhill go and launch the uh DRAM
[25:42] or the memory ETF. Uh they had a $10
[25:44] billion get added in like 2 months. Um
[25:46] and a huge part of that was just they
[25:48] gave access to American investors to
[25:49] certain companies that they couldn't
[25:51] otherwise do. And so uh how do does that
[25:53] play out? Do we just get consolidation
[25:55] where you're going to see more and more
[25:56] ADRs or ETFs with swaps and things where
[25:59] American investors are going to be able
[26:00] to really invest globally, but it's
[26:02] going to be through American vehicles?
[26:04] Look,
[26:05] you it's a democratization
[26:07] of investing, democratization of
[26:09] information flow.
[26:11] People want access to how they could
[26:15] play certain themes. Mhm. And
[26:17] [clears throat] that's what that does,
[26:18] right? And obviously there's the active
[26:20] manage piece as well, you know, in terms
[26:22] of like you know, depending on who it
[26:23] is, you know, where where they play that
[26:25] well. But I think we're going to see
[26:27] more and more of this, right? In terms
[26:29] of just like
[26:31] it's a globalization. I just see it
[26:33] traveling the world like
[26:35] my conversations with people in Europe,
[26:37] Asia, Australia, Africa, whatever,
[26:40] Middle East are very similar a lot of
[26:42] times to like, you know, somewhere in
[26:44] Midtown Manhattan. Mhm. So that's the
[26:47] opportunity where investors want to play
[26:49] a lot of the global theme.
[26:51] >> Mhm. Now, how do you think about the
[26:53] experienced investors take the Stanley
[26:55] Druckenmillers, kind of the legends of
[26:56] Wall Street? They seem to be all over
[26:58] this trend, rightfully so. Uh Paul Tudor
[27:00] Jones was on CNBC recently saying, "Hey,
[27:01] I bought a bunch more AI stocks." But
[27:03] then there are people like Leopold and
[27:05] others who frankly have no experience as
[27:07] investors, but they seem to be young,
[27:09] very in tune with what's happening. They
[27:11] have access to a lot of information from
[27:12] the private market that's informing
[27:14] their investment decisions. And so it
[27:15] doesn't feel like you can put anyone in
[27:17] a box where experience is a liability or
[27:20] an advantage.
[27:21] >> But also a Druckenmiller at one point
[27:22] was like in his 20s. Like Buffett at one
[27:25] point was in his 20s. Like you I don't
[27:27] think you could just look at things like
[27:29] this is good, this is bad, experience is
[27:31] good. I think a lot of it's based on
[27:33] like the individual. Look, experience, I
[27:36] believe
[27:38] there's so much value with experience
[27:40] that I think investors
[27:43] poo-poo sometimes. But then on the other
[27:45] hand, there's different ways of
[27:47] understanding this market where you can
[27:50] discount
[27:51] newer investors that have had huge track
[27:53] record. Cuz I could go back my whole
[27:55] career
[27:57] and investors being like, you know,
[27:59] who's this hedge fund or Tiger or
[28:01] whatever. Now look at Tiger. Like you
[28:03] could go back to like, you know, the
[28:05] legend, whether it's Cohen or others,
[28:08] and and what they did, but at one point
[28:11] they had to prove it. And I just think
[28:13] in a market like this,
[28:15] you have to digest all the information.
[28:18] And it's ultimately it's ones that you
[28:21] think from an invest from a PM
[28:23] perspective or an investor perspective,
[28:26] you take that into your process to help
[28:29] you,
[28:31] you know, pick ultimately the winners,
[28:33] good or bad. So we know that the AI
[28:35] trade has been working, investors very
[28:37] excited about it. Um the rest of
[28:39] software has been struggling a little
[28:40] bit, and I think that the broader market
[28:42] generally has been lagging um kind of
[28:44] the AI trade. Now, one of the concerns
[28:46] is as the Iran war continues and we see
[28:48] oil spike energy prices go up, you get
[28:52] this kind of persistent inflation risk.
[28:54] And we have a new Fed chairman that's
[28:55] coming in. And now people are saying,
[28:57] "Hey, maybe 6 months ago we were all
[29:00] advocating for a rate cuts and we really
[29:02] thought that kind of true QE was
[29:04] coming." Now there's more talk actually
[29:06] of rate hikes instead. And so how do you
[29:08] think of the relationship between
[29:09] monetary policy and maybe the AI trade
[29:11] and how investors should think about it?
[29:12] >> Yeah, and like if you look at the number
[29:14] and Tommy he talks about like the first
[29:16] like three or six months when a new Fed
[29:17] chair comes in like stock market's down
[29:20] like in first three or six months X
[29:22] percent. So it's like, you know, it
[29:24] tends to be like a readjustment for the
[29:26] market. Look, he's coming in at such a
[29:29] complex time because of where the
[29:30] 10-year, what we see up in Japan, what
[29:33] you know, obviously what we see in in
[29:35] terms of the UK and then because of oil
[29:38] and this sort of like,
[29:40] you know, impasse relative to Iran, what
[29:42] we're what we're seeing here.
[29:45] I just think
[29:47] it's going to be a volatile period and
[29:50] we could have sell-offs based on
[29:52] what war says, getting used to him and
[29:55] his sort of wording and is there a sort
[29:57] of tightening. But I do believe like
[30:00] this will be ultimately a temporary
[30:04] sit relative to oil
[30:06] and then he'll have more flexibility on
[30:08] the other side to cut. And I just think
[30:11] as a Trump appointee, I just cannot
[30:14] believe war is coming in as some hawk.
[30:16] That's sort of like my view, but look,
[30:19] but the market's going to adjust to it.
[30:20] But as the market adjust to geopolitical
[30:24] and Fed
[30:26] and other issues that happen from a
[30:27] macro perspective, you cannot lose sight
[30:31] of what's happening in terms of the in
[30:34] terms of the tech trade. Now, one of the
[30:36] other areas I find very fascinating is I
[30:38] look at artificial intelligence,
[30:39] Bitcoin, robotics, you know, all this
[30:41] stuff is just really the age of
[30:43] automation. We are essentially
[30:44] automating a bunch of parts of the
[30:45] economy. We're squeezing inefficiencies
[30:47] out. And I feel like there's a group of
[30:50] companies that maybe I'll use Figure
[30:52] Technologies. And I know it intimately
[30:53] cuz I was an investor from the private
[30:54] market, but they basically said, "Look,
[30:56] how do we automate a huge part of the
[30:58] HELOC market and then the secondary
[31:00] trading of these assets and the
[31:01] securitization, etc." It feels like now
[31:04] Wall Street has woken up. And whether
[31:06] they call it crypto or they call it, you
[31:08] know, AI or they call it automation,
[31:10] there is this like software is going to
[31:12] eat finance game going on. And so, how
[31:15] do you look at that bucket of companies
[31:17] which they may not actually fall in the
[31:18] pure AI trade and they may not fall in
[31:20] the pure like crypto trade, either.
[31:22] But there's a monetization that's
[31:24] happening, right? And I think like you
[31:27] see the world adjusting to these
[31:29] technologies. And I think it's something
[31:32] where it's going to make companies just
[31:34] that much more efficient. But also
[31:38] there's going to be software that comes
[31:41] in and it's wake-up calls for different
[31:42] companies that's going to create their
[31:44] own proprietary technology with their
[31:46] people. And that's going to make them
[31:49] that much better.
[31:50] So, I think
[31:51] it's an arms race that's playing going
[31:53] on between numerous
[31:56] new AI tech
[31:58] versus traditional. I think that's been
[32:00] from I think if there's any best example
[32:02] would be SaaS apocalypse, software,
[32:06] ServiceNow, Salesforce, Oracle, Workday,
[32:09] where do they sit?
[32:11] I I do believe that a lot of that is
[32:14] disconnected relative to how it's going
[32:16] to ultimately play out. But it's been a
[32:18] huge wake-up call for Benioff or
[32:20] Salesforce, like what they're going to
[32:21] have to do. But I think also the view
[32:24] that these models are broken or the new
[32:27] kid on the block is going to change, you
[32:30] know, whether it's Wall Street or
[32:32] whether it's Corporate America. Those
[32:34] are also easier said than done. And I
[32:36] think it's just it's all part of like
[32:38] who are the winners
[32:40] and trying to discount what's baked into
[32:43] the stocks at the end of the day. Now,
[32:45] as we see this all play out, another
[32:47] question that I think immediately people
[32:48] look at is something like Bitcoin. And
[32:50] we've seen Bitcoin actually operate I
[32:52] think a little bit differently than
[32:53] people thought it was going to. So,
[32:54] since the Iran war, it's up, not down.
[32:57] Uh over the last 90 days or so, it's up
[32:59] about 15%. It's up, you know, more than
[33:02] gold and S&P over the last 3 years, but
[33:04] it's also struggled over the last year.
[33:06] And so, kind of you can pick different
[33:07] time frames, and you can twist the data
[33:09] to tell different stories.
[33:12] One thing I think a lot of critics would
[33:13] argue is that there is a tension and
[33:15] capital that is being diverted from
[33:17] Bitcoin to the AI trade. And so, how do
[33:19] you look at the relationship between
[33:21] these
[33:22] >> I was literally going to I think that
[33:24] You think what? Exactly that. Like, I
[33:26] think risk assets,
[33:29] if you have a dollar,
[33:31] do you put it in this bucket,
[33:33] this bucket, or this bucket?
[33:35] >> Okay. And I think that
[33:37] is something that's playing out in the
[33:40] broader crypto market from an asset
[33:42] allocation perspective in terms of
[33:44] globally.
[33:46] Because
[33:47] when it comes to like the AI trade and
[33:49] what's happened, tech, and the level of
[33:51] disruption, it's
[33:54] we're talking like a one to like a
[33:56] 100-year type of cycle. Mhm. So, I think
[34:00] investors, whether it's FOMO, whatever,
[34:03] it's like, okay, do I want to
[34:05] invest here, where maybe I can make,
[34:08] whatever, this 15, 20%, or you know,
[34:11] what whatever wherever you think that
[34:12] goes.
[34:13] Whereas here, that's where some of the
[34:17] generational names. But, it's all
[34:20] relative.
[34:21] You could pick the wrong name here, Mhm.
[34:24] and then you're like, I should have
[34:26] stayed in crypto.
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[36:51] Do you think that this is just mere
[36:53] momentum and so, you know, kind of
[36:55] crypto or or Bitcoin in particular had
[36:57] momentum in 2020 through 2022, then
[37:00] people kind of rotated over to AI and it
[37:01] comes back? I think it's a pendulum. I
[37:04] think these things that I look, crypto's
[37:06] not going anywhere. Like it's going to
[37:08] continue to be I think among many like a
[37:10] part of their like portfolio.
[37:13] But I think you're going to go and you
[37:14] go in pendulum shifts. And I think as
[37:16] part of the pendulum shifts, it's very
[37:18] easy to get caught up in those
[37:20] narratives. I could say like a big
[37:23] pendulum shift for a while if you go
[37:24] back like in November is the is the tech
[37:26] trade done? Mhm. Is there rotation? Is
[37:29] it financials that are going to lead? Is
[37:31] it your traditional industrials? Look at
[37:34] like Walmart's multiple relative to
[37:36] Amazon. I'm just saying like that's
[37:38] another example of like
[37:40] think about that narrative. Mhm. So I
[37:42] think
[37:43] it's also you cannot get so caught up in
[37:46] narratives. You have to be able to
[37:50] whether it's individually or for, you
[37:51] know, whoever is investing to figure out
[37:54] what's the one that makes the most sense
[37:55] for them. You recently went on a couple
[37:57] of trips that I think are pretty
[37:58] interesting and maybe you can give us
[37:59] some like on the ground truth as to what
[38:00] you saw that maybe is different than the
[38:02] public narrative.
[38:03] >> Yeah. Um you went to Asia and spent a
[38:05] couple of weeks there. Uh talk a little
[38:06] bit maybe about going to the fabs in
[38:08] Taiwan and what you learned on this
[38:10] entire trip.
[38:10] >> I mean to me it's like that's how you're
[38:12] both that's how like we are
[38:15] so bullish on like memory and chips. And
[38:17] we knew this before earning season, but
[38:19] it's like it's why like a lot of times
[38:22] people would be like, "Oh, you're so
[38:23] bullish, bullish, no matter what." I'm
[38:25] like, "No, dude, like, cuz you're
[38:26] bearish sitting in your, you know, like,
[38:29] on Metro-North or in, you know, 35th
[38:32] floor in your your New York City office
[38:34] building,
[38:35] but you're just bearish based on
[38:37] narratives, people in your circle, and
[38:39] spreadsheets.
[38:41] If I see the demand in Asia, that's what
[38:44] makes me bullish. Mhm. Like, when when
[38:47] you say you see the demand, what do you
[38:48] see?
[38:48] >> demand. You see what's happening in
[38:50] terms of production. You see the the You
[38:52] see the supply You see the component
[38:53] issues. You have You have a better
[38:55] understanding what's happening in
[38:57] hardware, from Nvidia to memory to chips
[39:00] to other components.
[39:02] Then, you're able to kind of, like,
[39:04] triangulate that with what you're seeing
[39:07] from companies, what they're spending
[39:09] on, budgets, whether it's cybersecurity,
[39:11] whether it's software, whether it's
[39:12] broader tech infrastructure.
[39:15] That's why I think those trips are so
[39:17] important. Then, even, like, you know,
[39:19] been in Europe a few times on different
[39:21] trips, and like, I could tell you, like,
[39:24] just came back from Poland, like, the
[39:25] amount of spending around, like, defense
[39:28] spending, a lot of it coming out of
[39:29] Ukraine, but just, like, that you're
[39:32] seeing in Eastern Europe.
[39:35] AI really just starting to get started.
[39:37] Who's going to be the European country
[39:39] that, like, pops out and is we I think
[39:42] Poland could actually be I mean, you
[39:43] could assume maybe even France,
[39:45] but that continent is not just a zero in
[39:49] terms of the opportunity At one point,
[39:51] when they wake up,
[39:53] and regulatory, whatever, pushes back,
[39:56] there's going to be massive
[39:57] opportunities. So, I think investors are
[39:59] trying to figure out, like, where the
[40:01] opportunities are, specifically when it
[40:03] comes either tech or defense tech.
[40:06] >> Mhm. What are the areas where you're
[40:07] concerned in the AI trade? Maybe where
[40:09] you think investors are allocating
[40:10] capital and and their uh maybe
[40:12] misplaced.
[40:13] >> My biggest concern goes back to how we
[40:15] started this.
[40:17] Is that tech companies, it's about them
[40:20] tripping over their own shoe lace,
[40:23] having the hubris, talking about job
[40:26] cuts like it's like not reading the
[40:28] room,
[40:29] saying that their technology is going
[40:31] to, you know, is going to wipe out
[40:33] whether it's lawyers, you know,
[40:35] different areas and in financials for
[40:37] young people that Dude, you do that. You
[40:41] just shot yourself in the foot.
[40:42] >> But but I think a lot of people hear you
[40:44] say this, right? And
[40:45] I think I've got a unique view as to
[40:47] I've got a lot of friends who they know
[40:48] nothing about finance, they know nothing
[40:50] about technology. These people work as
[40:52] about as average American, you know,
[40:54] lifestyle as you could imagine. They're
[40:55] very happy, right? Sometimes I think I'm
[40:57] even jealous of how how happy they are.
[41:00] But they would say, "Oh, Dan just
[41:02] doesn't want them to say what they
[41:03] actually think." On the other side,
[41:06] understanding what the data is showing
[41:07] us, that's what is a job growth is
[41:09] actually happening, etc.
[41:11] >> That's It's not what they think.
[41:14] It's what
[41:16] Talk about what AI is going to do to
[41:17] pharmaceutical in this country is more
[41:19] is brought into the US and the drug
[41:22] discovery that could happen with, you
[41:24] know, in when it comes to like pharma,
[41:26] biotech, and others. Talk about like how
[41:29] many town I've been all around the
[41:30] United States for 30 year. How many
[41:32] towns had 30,000 people now have 10,000
[41:36] because the factory left and it went to
[41:38] Mexico, Indonesia, wherever and now they
[41:40] have like education, drug issues,
[41:42] whatever in a lot of those towns about
[41:45] data centers,
[41:46] jobs,
[41:48] a renais- a retraining of the work for
[41:50] It's a renaissance in this in this
[41:51] country. So, that's why it's very like
[41:54] cool
[41:55] it's very like
[41:57] it's it's almost more not even as a
[41:59] stock perspective, but just as an
[42:00] American, I see the opportunity. Mhm.
[42:04] It's [clears throat] we're talking about
[42:05] like something that's generational
[42:08] that will I'm not talking about just
[42:09] like wealthy people making money on
[42:10] stock. I'm talking like this can do,
[42:12] democratization data. So, it's
[42:14] frustrating,
[42:16] more than frustrating, when I see these
[42:18] tech companies in these certain areas
[42:20] about job cuts and then guess what?
[42:23] Politics get involved, regulatory. You
[42:26] know how many politicians I saw at
[42:27] Milken?
[42:29] A lot. Okay? And what are they focused
[42:31] on? Regulatory, there's job
[42:33] They're not They're not just going to
[42:35] watch Mhm. this take place. That's why
[42:38] to me when the data centers have to get
[42:40] built, they're not built in the towns
[42:42] and approved,
[42:44] that's the thing that worries me the
[42:45] most.
[42:46] >> Is it fair to say that you think Dario
[42:47] is wrong when he says that all these
[42:49] jobs are going to get wiped out?
[42:50] >> 100%. Explain. Because the reality is is
[42:53] that like the view and you know, you
[42:57] could hear it from like major banks to
[42:59] marketing whatever, what's going to
[43:01] separate companies, the technology,
[43:03] there's massive efficiencies.
[43:05] But ultimately, the models over time are
[43:08] going to get more commoditized. You're
[43:09] going to have hundreds of models, LLMs,
[43:12] that will be across US, across the
[43:14] world. As that data set gets
[43:17] commoditized, what separates company A
[43:20] from B to C to D?
[43:21] It's the people. Surprise It's the
[43:23] engineering, it's the mark. So, the
[43:26] thing is to have that like dystopian
[43:28] type view, remember like what
[43:30] Anthropic's done is unbelievable.
[43:33] But you start that type of fear,
[43:38] that that's the thing they don't all of
[43:40] a sudden data centers don't get built.
[43:42] You have politicians get more focused on
[43:44] regulation of models. You start to go
[43:46] closer to Europe from a data privacy
[43:48] way. Meanwhile, China that point is like
[43:50] foot on the pedal going
[43:52] That's the thing that to me, that I
[43:55] worry about the most, is the
[43:57] self-created PR problem
[44:00] that a lot of big tech has done.
[44:03] And
[44:05] you know, I think that has to be course
[44:06] corrected. Otherwise, like that would be
[44:08] the thing that I fear the most. Data
[44:10] centers don't get built,
[44:12] then a lot of
[44:14] Yeah, we're we're in trouble. So,
[44:17] that to me is what I fear the most.
[44:19] >> Let's talk about Apple. I think Apple's
[44:21] one of those companies that people
[44:22] obviously respect as a big business that
[44:24] has been very successful. Tim Cook is
[44:26] stepping down, but I think a lot of
[44:27] people are looking at Apple saying,
[44:28] "Hey, what's your AI strategy? Are you
[44:30] guys behind?" How do you evaluate that
[44:32] business?
[44:32] >> Yeah, we behind, but I mean, 1.5 billion
[44:35] iPhones, 2.5 billion iOS devices. You
[44:38] don't have to be first when you have
[44:41] that. You could be late to the game cuz
[44:44] they they're almost uh
[44:47] they're thing about them, Mike, they're
[44:50] you know, on the highway, the US
[44:52] consumer highway, the global highway.
[44:55] They're basically a toll collector.
[44:57] They're going to get their share.
[44:59] The way 20% of the world is going to
[45:01] access AI through an Apple device.
[45:04] That's why WWDC in June is so important
[45:07] for them to launch that strategy with
[45:09] Gemini. Start to actually now make sure
[45:12] that they're not watching this game from
[45:15] the outside. And I think it's very
[45:17] important not get so caught up in
[45:20] narratives where these companies they're
[45:21] done. Google was done a year ago.
[45:24] Look at them now. So, I just think
[45:27] Apple's like a sleeping giant relative
[45:30] to where I believe they're going to be
[45:31] able to monetize in the consumer side.
[45:34] Cook was obviously surprised at the
[45:36] time, but when I look at Turnus, core
[45:39] Apple veteran and innovator, someone
[45:41] that I think would also double down
[45:43] services. So, it's a very important time
[45:45] for Apple, but watch that stock. I
[45:48] continue to think that that's probably
[45:50] the one as large cap, probably on large
[45:52] cap that probably the one that's like
[45:53] the most mispriced along with maybe
[45:56] Microsoft not being factored in. And so,
[45:58] I think the narrative for a while was
[46:00] like the big companies, they have
[46:01] distribution, they have data, they have
[46:03] you know, very large teams. They're
[46:04] going to get the bulk of the benefit
[46:06] from AI. Do you still believe that? I
[46:07] still believe that and I think that's
[46:09] why, but also those companies are
[46:11] shifting quickly.
[46:13] If you look like what's happening at
[46:15] Meta,
[46:16] you look what's happening at Amazon,
[46:18] I think they're also going to have to
[46:20] significantly like not just partner with
[46:23] the Anthropic to open AI's, like they're
[46:24] essentially going to build their own
[46:26] vertical stacks.
[46:27] The power,
[46:29] the data It goes back to like the Circa
[46:30] financing fears. They got to plant their
[46:33] flags with those partners. They got to
[46:35] create their own ecosystem.
[46:37] >> Mhm.
[46:38] But, it's democratization of data.
[46:41] There's There will be companies that we
[46:44] have never heard of 2 years from now.
[46:46] Could they be the next Anthropic? I
[46:48] think that speaks to the opportunity now
[46:51] that we see in this world. Let's talk
[46:54] about the ETF that you have. Um talk a
[46:56] little bit about like the portfolio
[46:57] construction cuz I think a lot of people
[46:59] they're convinced of the AI trade. And
[47:00] what they're trying to think about is
[47:02] should I have, you know, three to five
[47:03] stocks? Should I be diversified across
[47:05] the individual sectors? How should I
[47:07] think about rotating my capital? And
[47:09] some of them frankly I think just say,
[47:11] "Well, I don't know." And so is there
[47:13] some sort of external party that I can
[47:15] go and I put my capital with? So talk a
[47:16] little bit as to how you guys
[47:17] >> Yeah, and that's all based on like our
[47:19] research and it's managed separately
[47:20] from from the Wedbush side. Um but it's
[47:24] it's the AIVS AI 30. It's our research
[47:26] It's basically it's putting out on all
[47:28] of our clients that we started doing a
[47:31] year ago.
[47:32] Who are the 30 names that are going to
[47:35] benefit in AI? Derivative. From chips to
[47:39] software to
[47:41] infrastructure to cybersecurity soft and
[47:45] that, you know, every quarter we switch
[47:47] that out relative to some of the names
[47:49] the 30 that come in, some come out based
[47:51] on all the the data and the research
[47:54] that we do.
[47:55] And what I've liked about the the I was
[47:58] AI 30 research as well as the I was AI
[48:01] 30 power um that that we've come out
[48:04] with, it's trying to just give a road
[48:06] map to our clients, our investors, is
[48:10] it's not just about these one, two
[48:12] names. It's about you have to be able to
[48:15] figure out who the second, third, fourth
[48:16] derivatives are. Mhm.
[48:19] When you look at um so many of these
[48:21] investors are now taking control of
[48:23] their own capital and they're saying I'm
[48:24] not going to go to RIAs or to financial
[48:26] advisors. I want to invest myself. How
[48:29] do you see them using the AI tools to
[48:31] actually become better investors? Are
[48:33] there things you guys are doing
[48:34] internally on the research side? Are
[48:35] there things that you're seeing in
[48:36] conversations with people?
[48:38] >> I would just say like just obviously
[48:40] been in so many of conferences, RIA. I
[48:42] mean, the value of RIAs are extremely
[48:45] important, you know, base for so many
[48:47] people. And I also think like there's so
[48:49] many people like everyone could look
[48:50] like a genius when stuff. Then all of a
[48:53] sudden like you know, you hit choppy and
[48:55] this that's also where
[48:56] you know, like it's very it's a
[48:59] dangerous time, too.
[49:01] Look, I think
[49:02] there's there's a flattening of data.
[49:05] There's more information out there.
[49:07] But I think it comes down to like for
[49:09] investors, it's also making sure I
[49:11] diversify portfolio, making sure you
[49:13] understand risk. Because a lot people
[49:15] like they think they This is where like
[49:17] when you go back to like the
[49:18] Druckenmiller and
[49:20] the Buffets and the Paul Tudor Jones and
[49:23] the other
[49:24] they understand See,
[49:27] they there might be like names that
[49:29] they're bullish on and that don't work
[49:31] with. The thing with a lot of them, what
[49:33] it makes them so elite,
[49:36] and Steve Cohen among others, is that
[49:38] they understand risk. Risk is the key
[49:42] piece. So, they and that's something
[49:44] from an individual perspective, a lot of
[49:45] investors like I think they
[49:48] undercalculate or miscalculate or
[49:50] something is risk. Mhm. And then what
[49:52] about like just the NASDAQ as a beta,
[49:55] you know, to the market, right? It It
[49:57] seems like if you go back for the last
[49:59] 10 years, that's been a pretty good bet
[50:00] because you should have just bought the
[50:02] index and maybe didn't even have to do
[50:03] any work. Yeah, I mean like look, people
[50:05] do that, right?
[50:08] but and and and and I get it because it
[50:11] plays the broader view and I think it
[50:13] just depends on like what themes you
[50:16] want to play and how you want to do it
[50:18] and
[50:19] I think more and more younger people
[50:22] investing.
[50:24] More and more of the population is
[50:26] invested in terms of the market and I
[50:28] think that's a it's a positive thing
[50:31] because also like you want to see wealth
[50:33] creation,
[50:35] you know, across the board. That's to me
[50:38] what makes me happy when I see like
[50:41] you know, like when you hear about
[50:43] investors that
[50:45] you know,
[50:45] they can pay off their college loans or
[50:48] they pay off their house or whatever it
[50:50] is by being on the right side of it. I
[50:52] think that's like
[50:54] those are the things that bring me joy
[50:55] when I hear about them.
[50:57] All right, where can we send people to
[50:58] find you on the internet? Yeah, so you
[51:00] know, I'm on X, um DIYs Tech, LinkedIn,
[51:04] you know, I mean you know how to contact
[51:06] me. And look, we just try to just be
[51:09] like one like we do the work
[51:12] and we try to communicate that to our
[51:15] clients and investors because there's a
[51:17] lot of haters out there.
[51:20] And it's very important in these sort of
[51:24] market to just sometimes like have a a
[51:29] light in a dark tunnel sometimes and I
[51:31] think that's very important especially
[51:33] in a market that's very confusing. Do
[51:35] you have a book suggestion for anybody?
[51:38] I mean look, I'm more like I'm more of a
[51:42] historian when it comes to but sorry,
[51:45] you know, I read a lot about like, you
[51:46] know, American history and then world
[51:48] history. And and I the one that I will
[51:51] say like a lot of times in books that
[51:53] investors like, oh, this is like a you
[51:55] know, Liar's Poker or whatever, you
[51:56] know, like the typical like walk. I
[51:58] actually think a lot of times like
[51:59] understanding like history, whether it's
[52:02] US history, America, it actually gives
[52:05] you good perspective when you even
[52:07] triangulate with the market in terms of
[52:10] just understanding like different
[52:12] generations and and what what happened
[52:14] especially over the last, you know, 150,
[52:16] 200 years. Yeah, I like it. All right,
[52:18] thank you so much for doing this.
[52:20] Awesome. Great.

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