In 2024 and 2025, investing in artificial intelligence was obvious. It was even possible to buy any IA-branded stock, and the price was rising – with Nvidia at the forefront. If today, AI can still be qualified as “investment cycle the most important of the decade » for Andrea Tueni, head of market activities at Saxo Bank, things are changing. Indeed, governments, whether in Europe, Asia or the United States, “consider leadership in AI as a matter of national security and economic competitiveness”.
But it adds an important nuance to understand for all investors, especially individuals who wish to capture this increase. “The era where we owned the entire sector without distinction is over »he believes. Since January 2026, the market has been sorting things out. Software stocks have corrected significantly, while chip manufacturers and energy players retain potential. For those who want to expose themselves to AI over time, a few questions arise. Which part of the value chain to focus on? And via which envelope?
AI is no longer just one sector
Saxo Banque thus uses an image from the boss of Nvidia, Jensen Huang, who believes that artificial intelligence would be “a 5 layer cake”. Basically, energy, which powers data centers. At the second level, chips and computing, the terrain of Nvidia, TSMC and memory manufacturers. Next comes cloud infrastructure and data centers. Then the AI models themselves. And finally, applications, software that monetizes AI by providing it to businesses and the general public.
So, “The AI business is no longer about being in the business. It is about choose the right part of the value chain at the right price »believes Andrea Tueni. It must be said that each layer has a precise risk profile, a medium or long term horizon, and a different valuation today. For example, software corrected at the beginning of the year: the promise of future revenues they made was slow to materialize. The term AI is no longer enough; position in the chain matters more. The rebound thus benefited companies able to prove a real increase in incomenot to those who simply mentioned AI in their presentations.
The opposite is true for the semiconductor sector. Hyperscalers, i.e. Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, continue to invest massively in their infrastructure, and these expenses land directly with chip, equipment and memory manufacturers.
How much should we invest in AI?
Remember that the PEA was created to accommodate actions of the European Union. So you can’t accommodate Nvidia, TSMC or the American software publishers directly there. Only two major AI stocks listed in Europe are eligible: the Dutch ASML, supplier of the most advanced chip engraving machines, and the German SAP. In addition, in 2026, no thematic ETF “artificial intelligence” pure is not eligible for the PEA. But a PEA Nasdaq ETF allows you to have Nvidia, Microsoft or Alphabet in your stock savings plan.
To access American and Asian securities directly, you will have to go through an ordinary securities account, with the “flat tax” of 31.4% which applies to capital gains and dividends.
