## The Fourth Industrial Revolution Has Begun: Why Current AI Investments Are Just the Beginning

From a different perspective, artificial intelligence is not a passing trend but a fundamental foundation reshaping the entire global economy. Leading analyst Dan Ives—who has spent over twenty years in the industry, traveled 3 million miles, and directly verified data centers and company leaders—asserts that we are witnessing a profound transformation comparable to previous industrial revolutions.

"Spreadsheets can't tell the whole story," Ives emphasizes. His judgments are based not on theoretical models but on direct practical experience. The transformation he calls the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" is fundamentally changing industries, labor markets, and capital flows in the long term.

### Investment Scale Without Precedent and Warning Signs

According to Ives, spending over the next two years will surpass the total investment of the past decade—a staggering figure that reflects real infrastructure expansion, not just hype. Research firm Gartner estimates global AI spending, including infrastructure, software, hardware, and services, could reach $2 trillion by 2026.

Data from _The Kobeissi Letter_ shows that 63% of recent US economic growth stems from AI-related investments. It notes: "Without AI spending, the economy is much weaker than it appears."

Cathie Wood of ARK recently commented: "This AI story is just getting started. We are in the first inning." This statement continues to affirm that although market sentiment may fluctuate, the underlying momentum remains very strong.

However, not everyone is optimistic. Michael Burry, famous for "The Big Short," is believed to have made a large bet that the stock prices of major AI companies like Nvidia and Palantir will decline, totaling about $10 million. Ives firmly dismisses the view that the current AI wave is a bubble. Unlike the dot-com era, capital today is being invested in real infrastructure: cloud migration, national AI initiatives, semiconductor manufacturing, and enterprise software upgrades. "The current situation is more like 1996 than 1999," Ives asserts.

### The Unsuspected Winners

While the spotlight is on tech giants—NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Palantir—Ives points out overlooked beneficiaries of this AI wave.

**Cybersecurity: The First Line of Defense**

Cybersecurity firms like CrowdStrike, Zscaler, and Palo Alto will thrive as AI increases both threats and defensive capabilities. On December 1, Wedbush reaffirmed an Outperform rating for CrowdStrike Holdings, with a 12-month price target of $600, up from $509.16 at the time.

CrowdStrike is considered a leader in AI-powered cybersecurity. Its innovative approach, including the AgentWorks platform built on Charlotte AI, strengthens its market position. With an estimated $150 billion of assets vulnerable to AI-related risks, organizations are increasingly turning to advanced security operations centers to protect against evolving threats.

Strategic acquisitions like Onum and Pangea, the development of Falcon Flex, and achievements such as obtaining FedRAMP High Authorization for Charlotte AI are helping CrowdStrike expand its presence in both the public sector and international markets.

**Infrastructure: The Unsung Engineers**

Infrastructure providers like Vertiv and Akamai play crucial but often overlooked roles in powering and cooling data centers. Additionally, semiconductor manufacturers such as TSMC, ASML, and Intel remain vital to AI expansion, as the demand for AI computing continues to pressure manufacturing capacity.

**Enterprise Software: The Future Foundation**

Upgrading enterprise software, though less prominent, is essential for the AI-driven future economy. Ives believes these undervalued sectors offer significant profit potential.

### National Strategies and the Chip Race

Both the US and China are heavily investing in computing power, advanced semiconductors, and AI-powered industries. This competition underscores the importance of infrastructure leaders like Nvidia and large-scale software platforms like Palantir, which are becoming increasingly critical for government and defense operations.

On December 8, President Trump authorized Nvidia to supply the H200 AI chip—its second-generation advanced chip—to select customers in China, with a quarter of sales allocated to the US government to protect national interests. This move highlights the dual economic and strategic significance of AI hardware.

### Palantir: From Underestimated to Champion

When Palantir first went public at around $10 per share, many dismissed the company as a government-contract-dependent business. However, Ives recognized Palantir’s quiet evolution as it gradually penetrated the enterprise sector and executed a strategic pivot that Wall Street had not fully appreciated.

This confidence was reinforced on July 28, 2023, when Ives began tracking Palantir at Wedbush with an Outperform rating and a $25 price target—more than 50% above the previous closing price. As Palantir’s AI capabilities advanced, Ives continued to raise his price target and famously called Palantir the "Messi of AI," comparing the company's strength to football legend Lionel Messi.

Today, Palantir shares trade near $180, a clear validation of Ives’s thesis. "Palantir has been overlooked for years," Ives recalls. "But seeing what Alex Karp and his team have built is very proud."

### Long-Term Investment Philosophy

Ives’s experience includes early and contrarian decisions on companies like Tesla, Apple, and Nvidia, all of which have revolutionized their industries. Nvidia’s leadership in GPUs has established the AI computing era, Tesla’s progress in automation and robotics aligns with Ives’s vision of integrated systems, and Palantir’s strategic shift to enterprise software has demonstrated his ability to identify transformative trends.

Ives’s investment style not only focuses on infrastructure and security but also looks further ahead, seeking "second, third, and fourth-tier" companies—especially in cybersecurity—where the rapid adoption of AI creates new opportunities for firms like CrowdStrike.

### Final Point

The pace of AI adoption is outstripping previous technology cycles. While much attention is on the tech giants, truly insightful investors will look for value in the overlooked corners, where companies ignored today could become the winners of tomorrow. According to Ives, current AI investments are only at the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution—a period where the right choices today will shape markets for decades to come.