Future Now: Detailed AI and Tech Developments
AI's Explosive Growth: Two Stocks Poised for Massive Gains
The news was published on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. I am Mary. Hey there, folks. Let's chat about something that's been buzzing around lately, generative AI. You know that cool tech that can whip up smart responses, images, and even videos just from a few words? Yeah, that one. It's not just a passing fad. It's exploding like a fireworks show on New Year's Eve. Now get this. Experts are saying this market could grow 10 times its current size, hitting a whopping $356 billion by 2030. That's not pocket change, my friends. We're talking about serious dough here. And why wouldn't it grow? These AI tools are becoming as common as your morning coffee. Speaking of which, have you heard of chat GPT? Or maybe Google's Gemini? How about Microsoft Co-Pilot? These are the big players in the generative AI game right now. They're like the popular kids in high school. Everyone wants to hang out with them. Take chat GPT, for instance. It's got over 200 million weekly active users. That's like everyone in Brazil logging in every week. But here's the kicker. This AI boom isn't just about fancy chatbots. It's creating some real opportunities in the stock market too. And I've got the inside scoop on two stocks that might just be your golden ticket. First up, we've got Soundhound AI. Now don't let the name fool you. They're not teaching dogs to sing. These folks are all about voice assistants, you know, like Siri or Alexa, but way smarter. They're seeing huge demand from car manufacturers. Imagine having a chat with your car that's actually useful. Not just, "I'm sorry, I didn't understand that." Soundhound's not messing around either. Their revenue shot up by 54% compared to last year, hitting $13.5 million in just one quarter. And they're not stopping there. They just bought another AI company called Amelia for $80 million. It's like they're playing AI Monopoly and they're going for boardwalk. Now, let's talk about our second contender, NVIDIA. These guys used to be the go-to for gamers who wanted top-notch graphics cards, but they've pulled a real Clark Kent to Superman transformation. Now, they're the big cheese in AI chips. We're talking a 122% revenue increase in just one quarter. That's not growth, that's an explosion. NVIDIA's not just sitting pretty either. They've rolled out this thing called NVIDIA inference microservices or NEMs for short. Over 150 companies are already using it to speed up their AI game. It's like they've handed out jetpacks to everyone still running the AI marathon. Oh, and did I mention they've teamed up with Meta, you know, the Facebook people, for an AI Foundry service? It's like they're not just making the paint brushes, they're helping everyone become Picasso. Now I know I've thrown a lot of tech lingo at you, let's break it down a bit. When I say GPUs, I'm talking about graphics processing units. Think of them as the brains behind everything you see on your computer screen. And NIMs, that's NVIDIA's secret sauce for making AI work faster and smarter. All right, so let's zoom out a bit and look at some similar tech booms from the past. You know, history has a funny way of rhyming, if not repeating itself. Take the late 1990s, for instance. Man, what a wild time that was. The internet was this shiny new thing and everyone in their grandma wanted a piece of the action. You had companies popping up left and right, slapping dot dot com on their name and watching their stock prices shoot through the roof. It was like the California gold rush, but instead of panning for gold, folks were coding websites and dreaming up e-commerce empires. I remember this one company, let's call them pets.com. They had this brilliant idea to sell pet supplies online. Sounds pretty standard now, right? But back then, it was revolutionary. They even had this adorable sock puppet mascot in their Super Bowl commercial. People went nuts for it. Their IPO was the talk of the town and investors were throwing money at them like there was no tomorrow. And it wasn't just pets dot com. You had Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, all these names we know today, but they were just starting out. The valuations were insane. I'm talking companies with barely any revenue being worth billions on paper. And the craziest part? A lot of these companies didn't even have a clear path to profitability. It was all about eyeballs and mindshare and other buzzwords that basically meant we'll figure out how to make money later. But investors didn't care. They were so afraid of missing out on the next big thing that they'd invest in almost anything with a website. You had people quitting their day jobs to day trade tech stocks. It was a frenzy. But here's the thing, while a lot of those companies went belly up when the bubble burst, the technology and the ideas behind them, they changed everything. e-commerce, online advertising, digital media, all that stuff we take for granted now. It got its start in that crazy boom time. So yeah, there was a lot of hype and a lot of crashes, but it also laid the groundwork for the digital world we live in today. Now fast forward a bit to 2007. Apple drops this little thing called the iPhone and boom. Another tech revolution kicks off. Suddenly, everyone's walking around with a mini computer in their pocket and a whole new world of possibilities opens up. It's like the internet boom all over again, but this time it's all about apps and mobile services. You've got these scrappy startups coming out of nowhere and becoming household names overnight. Remember when Uber was just a crazy idea about hailing a cab with your phone? Or when Instagram was this tiny photo sharing app that Facebook snapped up for a cool billion? It seemed like every week there was a new app that was going to change the world. And it wasn't just the new kids on the block making waves. The big tech companies had to completely rethink their strategies, Facebook, Google, Amazon. They all had to pivot hard to mobile. If you weren't mobile first, you were toast. It was adapt or die time. The app store became this goldmine for developers. You had these stories of indie devs making simple games in their bedrooms and suddenly becoming millionaires. Remember Flappy Bird? That game was making $50,000 a day at its peak. A day for a game that looks like it was made in MS Paint. But it wasn't all fun and games. This mobile revolution changed how we interact with the world. Suddenly, we had GPS in our pockets. We could stream music and videos anywhere. We could order food or a ride or pretty much anything with a few taps. It completely rewired our brains and our social lives. Now let's dive into the potential outcomes of this AI revolution. Soundhound AI could very well become the go-to voice assistant across multiple industries. Picture this. You're driving your car. And instead of fumbling with buttons or touch screens, you're having a natural conversation with your vehicle. Hey car, find me a cozy Italian restaurant with outdoor seating. And boom, it's done. But it doesn't stop there. Imagine walking into a hospital and speaking to an AI receptionist that can understand complex medical queries and direct you to the right department or calling your bank and having an AI assistant that can handle intricate financial transactions without a hitch. That's the kind of future Soundhound AI is gunning for. They're not just dipping their toes in these industries. They're cannonballing into the deep end. With their recent acquisition of Amelia, they've basically strapped a jetpack to their expansion plans. It's like they've been given the keys to a whole new playground of possibilities. But here's the rub. All this potential comes with a price tag. Soundhounds marketing costs are higher than a kite right now. They're spending almost half their revenue just to get the word out. It's like they're throwing a massive party and inviting everyone, but they're footing the bill for all the fancy hors d'oeuvres. Sure, it's getting them attention, but it's also burning through cash faster than a teenager with their first credit card. The big question is, can they keep this up long enough for their tech to become indispensable? If they can't figure out how to turn all this buzz into cold hard cash, they might find themselves in a sticky situation. It's a high stakes game of chicken. They need to keep spending to grow, but they also need to grow to justify the spending. It's like trying to fill a leaky bucket. They need to patch those holes before all that potential drains away. Now let's shift gears and talk about NVIDIA. These folks have been the big cheese in the GPU world for ages, but now they're facing some new kids on the block. Custom AI chip makers are popping up like whack-a-moles, each claiming they've got the secret sauce for AI processing. It's like NVIDIA's been the only pizza joint in town for years, and suddenly there's a whole food court of options. But here's the thing, NVIDIA isn't just sitting on its laurels. They're innovating faster than you can say, artificial intelligence. They're not just making chips, they're creating entire ecosystems. They're new inference microservices. It's like they've given AI developers a fully stocked kitchen to whip up their creations. And their partnership with meta, that's like teaming up with the cool kids to throw the biggest party of the year. But NVIDIA's not putting all its eggs in the hardware basket. They're quietly building up a software empire that could be a game changer. Think about it. AT&T cut their costs by 70% using NVIDIA's software for AI call handling. That's not just a drop in the bucket. That's a whole ocean of savings. And NVIDIA's expecting their software and services to rake in billions annually. It's like they're not just selling shovels in a gold rush. They're offering the maps, the camping gear, and the know-how to strike it rich. So while the competition might be heating up, NVIDIA's playing chess while everyone else is still figuring out checkers.