THIS WEEK’S BREAKDOWN

How to Play the Next AI Wave Like a Pro

If you’ve checked your portfolio lately and felt like your AI trades just went from “sick gains” to “why did I YOLO into this?”—you’re not alone. Nvidia’s cooling off, Tesla’s flailing, and your favorite AI ETF just had its worst month in a year.

But don’t delete your ChatGPT account just yet. The AI boom isn’t over—it’s just changing shape.

The question is: do you know what comes next?

Because while most investors are chasing yesterday’s headlines, smart money is already rotating into the next generation of AI winners. And they look a lot different from the names we all piled into last year.

Here’s how to ride the real AI wave in 2025, without getting wrecked.

The AI 1.0 hype train is slowing down. Time to upgrade your ticket.

Big Tech Is Bleeding—But That’s Not the Full Story

The “Magnificent Seven” carried the market in 2023 and most of 2024, thanks to the AI frenzy. Nvidia was the poster child, adding hundreds of billions in market cap with every new chip announcement. But 2025 has been... a bit different.

• Nvidia is down ~17% from its highs.

• Tesla has been sliding post-AI pivot confusion.

• Meta and Amazon have taken hits after softer-than-expected AI monetization updates.

Investors are starting to realize that just mentioning AI on an earnings call isn’t enough to justify a 40x multiple.

The lesson? The first inning of the AI trade was about hype. The next inning will be about execution—and infrastructure.

You can keep chasing hype—or you can invest in what’s actually building the future.

Deep Tech Is the Quiet Engine of the Future

We’re talking AI infrastructure, semiconductors, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and all the invisible tech that makes your favorite apps (and investment dreams) run.

This is where Surmount’s Deep Tech Strategy comes in—a rules-based, auto-rebalanced portfolio that gives you exposure to companies doing the real engineering behind the next wave of innovation.

📈 Why Deep Tech > Meme Stocks:

• It’s not just AI buzzwords—this strategy includes leaders in chip design, enterprise software, and next-gen cloud.

• Monthly rebalancing keeps it fresh while filtering out the fluff.

• Built to capture long-term growth in mission-critical tech, not just whatever’s trending on Twitter.

💡 The Strategy by the Numbers

• +140.38% total return

• 30 companies

• Rebalanced every 30 days

• No YOLO-ing

This isn’t about chasing moonshots. It’s about being early on the tech that powers the moonshots.

Want to build a portfolio that actually reflects where the world’s going? The Deep Tech Strategy on Surmount is your inside lane to real innovation.

When everyone’s digging for gold, sell shovels. That still works.

“Picks and Shovels” Are the New Gold Rush

You know what’s better than betting on which chatbot wins? Investing in the companies that build and power the AI arms race. And that’s exactly where capital is flowing now.

Where the smart money is rotating:

• Super Micro Computer (SMCI) – builds servers tailor-made for AI workloads.

• Arm Holdings (ARM) – licenses chip architecture needed for efficient AI processing.

• Broadcom, Marvell, AMD – all making the nuts and bolts of AI infrastructure.

• Equinix (EQIX) and Digital Realty (DLR) – real estate REITs for the data center boom.

This is the stuff nobody flexes on TikTok—but these are the businesses selling the gear that makes AI actually work.

If you're still only looking at Nvidia, you’re missing the rest of the stack—and the rest of the upside.

Spoiler: The next AI winners won’t all be in Silicon Valley.

AI Gets Niche: Meet the Vertical Winners

We’re entering the phase where AI is specializing—embedding itself inside vertical industries. These are the companies quietly using AI to dominate their category, not just talk about it.

Real AI monetization is happening in:

• Defense: Palantir is rolling out battlefield-ready AI for NATO clients.

• Healthcare: Tempus and Guardant are using AI to improve cancer detection.

• Logistics: GXO and Prologis are optimizing warehouse ops with predictive AI.

• Financials: SoFi and Square are deploying LLMs for credit risk, fraud detection, and automated support.

You won’t see these names in the headlines like you did with OpenAI, but the revenue growth is real—and that’s what matters.

These aren’t moonshots. They’re businesses with product-market fit, using AI as leverage—not as their entire identity.

Don’t sleep on overseas plays—they’re not just copycats anymore.

Global AI Players Are Catching Up

While everyone’s obsessing over Silicon Valley, international markets are quietly making moves:

• UAE is investing billions in AI infrastructure and sovereign LLMs.

  • Surmount’s UAE Strategy has been quietly crushing it, with a +215% total return by tapping into this exact thesis—AI innovation and digital infrastructure growth in emerging markets. It’s low-turnover, region-specific, and built for global alpha.

• Japan is backing edge AI robotics for automation in aging industries.

• China (yes, even post-regulation) is still a leader in AI chip R&D and autonomous systems.

One of the best-performing international ETFs in Q1 was $ROBO—which holds a global basket of AI-powered robotics and automation firms.

Looking outside the U.S. isn’t just about “diversifying.” It’s about accessing growth you can’t find in an overvalued Nasdaq.

Insiders are still the best signal on what’s real vs. what’s hype.

Want Alpha? Follow the Executives

If you're wondering which AI stocks actually have upside left, stop reading headlines—and start watching Form 4s.

When execs at companies like Microsoft, Meta, and AMD are buying their own stock after a 15% drop, they’re not gambling—they're making a calculated bet with way more info than the rest of us.

Surmount’s Magnificent 7 Insider Trading Strategy tracks just that—insider buys in Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, Google, and Tesla. And yes, it adjusts based on conviction (and filters out BS compensation-driven sales).

If they’re buying the dip, maybe you should be too.

So... What Should You Actually Do With All This?

Let’s simplify:

• Stop chasing hype. The AI story is still intact—but it’s evolving.

• Follow the infrastructure. That’s where the next phase of value is being created.

• Diversify internationally. The U.S. isn’t the only game in town.

• Focus on execution. Who’s monetizing AI—not just marketing it.

• Automate it. Because timing this stuff manually is a fool’s game.