Feature Stories | Jan 28 2025
The rapid pace of AI evolution continues, what's new, and which sectors/stocks are in focus
-Trump flicks the AI switch
-China challenges US innovation
-Morgan Stanley's latest AI survey in focus
-The next big thing in AI
-Beyond textual data to the optical data transformation
-E&P's update on Australian Tech Stocks
By Danielle Ecuyer
At the outset of the first update on GenAI in 2025, a brief definition reset is apposite.
Such is the scope and scale of change in the megatrend that, without defining the different forms of AI, the investor and reader are left proverbially up the technology river without a paddle.
The following definitions should assist:
-Inference AI focuses on applying trained models to infer results or make predictions. Currently widely used with chat bots, generating or predicts outputs from inputs, such as the current large language models
-Generative AI are systems designed to create new content, data, or ideas that resemble human-produced outputs. It uses machine learning models, often powered by neural networks, to generate text, images, music, videos, code, or other content based on patterns learned from existing data.
-Agentic AI acts on its own to achieve goals, requiring autonomy and real-time decision-making. Agentic is in development and includes autonomous vehicles and virtual assistants.
-AGI or artificial general intelligence, would embody human-level cognition and versatility, transcending the limitations of current AI. In development, theoretical, and referred to as singularity,' a point at which machine intelligence supersedes human intelligence.
Source: ChatGPT
2025 starts with a Big Technology Bang
Trump 2.0 has hit the ground running and seemingly already upped the ante in the race for developing artificial general intelligence, having declared he was softening the regulatory safety guardrails for generative AI development on day one.
Unlike Trump 1.0, America's tech titans are clearly in the President's orbit. The Stargate announcement at the Oval Office for a joint venture, where an initial US$100bn will be spent on the construction of the "physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of advancements in AI and this will include the construction of colossal data centres," further confirmed the President's newfound enthusiasm for AI.
The joint venture is between Oracle, SoftBank, and OpenAI, with funds from additional investors, such as Microsoft yet to be announced in full. The Stargate project has a target to reach US$500bn in AI projects.
According to Bloomberg, the Chief Executive Officer of Google DeepMind told the agency in Davos, "the administration is getting advice from the people who really understand what's happening at the cutting edge."
Nigel Green, CEO of deVere Group, an independent financial advisory and asset manager, said:
"Many analysts argue the AI rally is going to dampen this year, but this news reaffirms we're merely in a recalibration phase, not a revolution in market leadership. AI is not a fleeting trend, it's the foundation of the future. Investors who fail to recognise this risk missing out on one of the most transformative opportunities of our time."
And:
"Trump's AI initiative is a wake-up call to the immense and ongoing potential of artificial intelligence. The time to build exposure to the defining economic shift of our era is today."
The AI race continues to heat up
As described by Geninnov founder and investment manager Nilesh Jasani, world powers and corporations are confronting the prisoner's dilemma: if they do not pursue AI developments, their biggest competitors will.
The Trump Administration's incoming announcements suggest caution around intelligent AI concerns and sufficient clean energy to power the mega data centres is seemingly swept away in favour of significantly advancing America's technologies.
The fear of China beating the US in the AI race is a highly motivating factor, see also the DeepSeek development over the Australia Day long weekend.
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