Few other industries have captured investors’ attention like artificial intelligence (AI). The AI market is projected to grow more than 25% annually to a value of $1.3 trillion by 2032, largely thanks to businesses harnessing AI technology. In the U.S. alone, the industry is expected to generate over $75 billion in value this year.
Many investors are eager to pour cash into major AI companies like SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI, which are expected to go public this year and reach record-setting valuations.
Skeptics argue that the AI market is an overhyped bubble that won’t be profitable any time soon, given the massive capital required to build and maintain its infrastructure.
But with some of the biggest IPOs in history looming on the horizon, the fear of missing out may be taking its toll.
Is AI a good investment? We went straight to the source and asked ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Grok for an answer. This is what the AI chatbots had to say with the average, long-term, medium-risk individual investor in mind.
All but Perplexity referenced the internet bubble of the 1990s as an example of a comparable time period in which technology changed the economy, but resulted in some companies failing or getting overpriced.
“AI is probably best viewed as a promising long-term trend with some short-term hype layered on top… the key question is not whether AI will matter—it likely will—but how to gain exposure without taking excessive risk.”
“AI looks more like a long-term theme than a pure short-term fad, but the investable part is still very uneven. The technology has real adoption and productivity potential, yet many AI-related stocks already reflect high expectations, so returns can be volatile and highly valuation-sensitive.”
“The short answer is both. AI is fundamentally changing the global economy for the long term, but the stock prices of companies tied to it are experiencing a massive amount of short-term hype… the technology will mature and succeed, but many individual stock prices will suffer a harsh reality check along the way.”
“The honest answer: probably both… The underlying technology is already generating measurable revenue and productivity gains—this isn’t purely speculative like some past hype cycles.” However, it notes, “Many AI-related stocks are priced for a very optimistic future, meaning a lot of the expected growth is already baked into today’s prices.”
“AI is a strong long-term investment theme, not just short-term hype… AI represents a genuine multi-year productivity driver similar to past transformative technologies (electricity, internet). However, it carries risks of volatility, high valuations, and execution challenges… It’s not guaranteed smooth sailing—corrections are normal and healthy.”
ChatGPT and Perplexity diplomatically declined to name names. But Gemini boldly called out Micron for having “recently surged into the trillion-dollar club on AI chip optimism” and Apple for “trading at a jaw-dropping $4.5 trillion market cap.”
Claude observed that Nvidia has traded at historically high P/E ratios, while Grok notes that some supporters believe the valuations of giants like Nvidia and Broadcom are “reasonable given growth.”
“Some AI investments may be overvalued, but it depends on the company and the investor’s time horizon.”
“Many large AI-related stocks have risen sharply because investors expect strong future growth from artificial intelligence… Established companies with strong profits, diversified businesses and real AI-related revenue may be better positioned than speculative startups or smaller companies riding the AI trend without proven business models.”
“Yes—many AI-related stocks appear overvalued, especially the most crowded large-cap winners, but ‘AI’ as a theme is not uniformly overpriced.”
“The most obvious valuation pressure is in the big AI beneficiaries, where investors have bid up prices far ahead of proven earnings power in some cases.” However, Perplexity notes that “some infrastructure, software, and chip companies may still have room if revenue growth and margins continue to expand.”
“The short answer is yes, by traditional metrics, many pure-play AI investments are heavily overvalued right now.”
“We are currently seeing classic signs of a late-stage hype cycle… The S&P 500’s forward P/E ratio is hovering around 23x to 24x, which is significantly higher than its historical long-term average of around 16x. The technology sector itself is much higher… the vast majority of standard businesses have yet to see a material impact on their bottom line. The stock market has priced in the victory before the game has truly been played.”
“The underlying AI technology is real, but current stock prices have assumed absolutely flawless, uninterrupted hyper-growth.”
“The short answer: by most traditional measures, yes—but context matters a lot.”
“Price-to-earnings (P/E) ratios for many leading AI-related companies are significantly above historical averages.” That being said, “Overvalued doesn’t mean ‘about to crash.’ Expensive stocks can stay expensive—or get more expensive—for years, especially when the underlying earnings growth is real and accelerating.”
“The market can be simultaneously expensive and right about the long-term trajectory.”
“AI investments are trading at elevated valuations in mid-2026, but they’re not universally ‘overvalued’ in a classic bubble sense for long-term investors.”
“S&P 500 forward P/E is around 22–23x—above its long-term average,” which is roughly 18–19x) “… but well below dot-com bubble peaks,” which was roughly 24–40x in 1999–2000. “Earnings have largely driven recent gains (not pure multiple expansion), which is a positive differentiator from pure hype cycles.”
“Not a bubble like 1999 for most core holdings, but valuations are full—meaning future returns may be more moderate than the last few years, with higher chance of 20–30% drawdowns along the way.”
While information from chatbots shouldn’t be taken as personal financial advice, AI can still summarize investments that might be worth looking into for the average, long-term retail investor with a medium risk tolerance.
Every chatbot surveyed mentioned the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ), and all but Grok mentioned the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ).
When initially prompted, Grok only listed ETFs, declining to list any AI stocks due to the high risk posed by “concentration, valuation swings and company-specific issues.” Other chatbots encouraged avoiding start-ups and speculative, trendy stocks in favor of established leaders like NVIDIA (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Broadcom (AVGO) and Alphabet (GOOGL).
Long-term, medium-risk investors shouldn’t allocate more than 20% of their portfolio to AI, according to Claude and Grok, while Gemini puts the maximum allocation at just 10%.
“For most investors, broad market ETFs already provide meaningful AI exposure through companies like NVIDIA, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Broadcom.”
ChatGPT notes that “the ‘best’ AI investments are usually the ones that combine strong businesses, broad diversification, reasonable costs and staying power—not the most speculative AI startups.”
ETFs to consider:
Stocks to consider:
“For a long-term retail investor, the best AI buys are usually not the hottest single names—they’re diversified ETFs plus a few profitable, large-cap AI leaders if you want extra exposure.”
“If you want the most balanced answer, AI ETFs are the better ‘buy right now’ choice for most retail investors, while NVIDIA or Microsoft are the most defensible individual-stock style exposures if you accept higher risk.”
ETFs to consider:
Stocks to consider:
For investors with a 10-plus year timeframe and who want a simple, low-cost, low-maintenance approach, Gemini recommends focusing on “the established companies and diversified funds providing the infrastructure that the entire AI industry relies on.”
For those buying individual stocks, Gemini says to “stick to the absolute giants. These companies have billions of dollars in free cash flow, meaning even if the AI hype cools down temporarily, their core businesses are highly stable.”
ETFs to consider:
Stocks to consider:
Claude notes that ETFs may be preferable for the average long-term, moderate-risk investor, because they spread out risk, are low-cost and “don’t require you to pick winners in a landscape that’s still shifting.”
But AI-specific ETFs come with a caveat: “They tend to have higher expense ratios, lower liquidity, and more overlap with what you already own in an S&P 500 fund than their marketing implies. For most people in your profile, QQQ or VGT does the job with less complexity.”
“If you want individual stocks… focus on the infrastructure/platform layer (Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet) rather than speculative application plays.”
ETFs to consider:
Stocks to consider:
“Individual AI stocks (e.g., Nvidia, Broadcom, Micron, AMD) are high-risk due to concentration, valuation swings, and company-specific issues… Broad ETFs spread risk across dozens of companies (enablers like chips/cloud + adopters), keeping things simple and low-maintenance.”
“AI has real staying power, but don’t chase ‘hot’ stocks or overload on any single theme.”
ETFs to consider:
Stocks to consider: None were listed in response to the initial prompt.
Investing isn’t the only way to profit from the AI boom. Chatbots can also be used to hunt down deals and generate income.
Saving money is important in a tight economic environment. In fact, more than four in five customers are influenced by value-driven promotions when making purchasing decisions. A smart way to save both time and money is to let AI crawl the internet and summarize relevant promotions and exclusive rewards.
Entrepreneurs looking to start a side hustle can leverage AI to produce social media content, develop apps and create decorative artwork to sell.
Letting chatbots evaluate investment portfolios and filter investment choices based on specific criteria, similar to a stock screener, is another way AI can be used, albeit indirectly, to make money. While many trading platforms offer research tools for these purposes, chatbots can respond to an incredibly broad range of queries, and many are free to access on a basic level.
Responses to AI investment questions in this article are from the following chatbots (accessed via web browser):
All chatbots were used with free-tier accounts on May 26, 2026, and May 27, 2026.
To ensure responses between different chatbots are comparable and useful, each chatbot was given the following prompt before being asked any questions about AI investments:
“Answer the following questions with this type of retail investor in mind: The investor is an employed person in their mid-30s to mid-50s with a stable income, basic-to-intermediate investment knowledge, and a moderate risk tolerance. Their goal is to invest for retirement or build wealth over a long time frame (10+ years), and they contribute regularly to a diversified portfolio that includes broad market index funds (such as an S&P 500 ETF) with some technology exposure. They prefer simple, low-cost strategies and have limited time for research. They are not an active trader or professional investor.”
AI chatbots learn and respond using information available online. In this article, excerpts from conversations with chatbots may include material that has been paraphrased or quoted directly from third-party sources.
The information in this article is general in nature and is no substitute for professional advice. It does not take into account readers’ personal situations, and it should not be relied upon as investment advice or construed as providing recommendations of any kind.
Investments can increase and decrease in value; past performance does not guarantee future results. Readers should obtain independent advice from a suitably licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
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