Robocap: Fears over AI investment bubble
New global research with institutional investors (pension funds, insurance asset managers and family offices) and wealth managers managing assets of $513 billion, which reveals nearly one in three (30%) are very concerned about a possible AI investment bubble with 70% quite concerned.
But the study by Robocap, the leading investor in robotics, automation and AI, found they are nearly three times more worried about a bubble in AI software than in hardware such as data centres. More than four out of five (84%) say there is a potential investment bubble around software such as frontier models compared with 29% saying the same about data centres.
Around two-thirds (66%) of the professional investors surveyed believe that the debate about whether today’s AI stock prices are a bubble or a bargain in five years’ time will depend on the sector. Just a fifth (20%) believe that in five years’ time today’s AI prices will be seen as a bubble while 14% believe they will be seen as a bargain.
Almost all (99%) believe companies are currently spending too much on AI infrastructure which has been a dominant theme in the record performance of US tech stocks. However almost all (99%) believe the main US hyperscalers will increase or maintain spending on AI data centres next year with 34% predicting an increase and 65% forecasting spending will be maintained at current levels. Just 1% predict reduced spending.
The Robocap UCITS Fund, which is a thematic equity fund focusing on pure-play robotics, automation and AI listed stocks globally, was launched in January 2016 and is managed by a London based specialist team. It has delivered compound annualised net returns (CAGR) of 16.44% and a net return of 387.98% since its inception.