Sectors: AI
The bull case for AI remains firmly intact, with calls to “pace” frontier development very different from an actual pullback in spending. Demand for computing power continues to accelerate, reflected in the extraordinary growth of the major cloud platforms: AWS revenue has more than tripled since 2021, while Google Cloud has grown around six-fold, with both expected to reach new highs by year-end. Nvidia remains the clearest beneficiary, returning almost 900% over five years, more than 10x the S&P 500’s gain, while Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon have also comfortably outperformed. Importantly, history suggests sentiment-driven setbacks in the AI trade have generally proved short-lived, and until we see evidence that hyperscalers are actually cutting capex rather than simply talking about pacing development, the structural bull case remains hard to dismiss.
On Saturday, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an essay titled “We Must Pace the Frontier,” arguing that AI capabilities are advancing faster than leading labs can adequately evaluate and control them. Importantly, he wasn’t calling for a halt to AI development, but rather a more measured pace built around independent oversight, common industry safety standards and, ultimately, global coordination.
The Korean KOSPI (+56.3%) has been the standout global equity market in 2026, supercharged by the AI-driven semiconductor boom and explosive demand for memory chips from index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.
Hello Gentlemen, I wonder if you could cast your eyes on a couple of small caps for me.
Mg Guys.
Hi James and team,
Hi guys
Crickey! I’m heavily invested in Asian ETFs, but on Friday 26th it dropped by 4.71%. This was pretty shocking for me, or is just life? It appears to be because of concerns about future demand for the demand of semiconductor, and other picks and shovels supporting the hyperscalers, AI and data centre development.
The “Big Four” AI hyperscalers Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet and Meta (with Oracle emerging) are now guiding toward as much as $725 billion for the full year, but this week’s comments from Meta raise very real doubts around whether the spend has already peaked, making stocks that are priced for ongoing growth feal very rich.
