Meta and Apple Lead AI Arms Race Amid Growing Industry Spend

Dan Ives, partner at Yorkville Ives, sees Meta Platforms (META) and Apple (AAPL) as key players in the AI arms race. He calls Meta's Muse AI a 'game changer' and estimates that the industry is only about 15% of the way through the spending required for AI infrastructure. According to Ives, established technology companies like Meta and Apple can leverage their user bases and resources to their advantage in the AI market.

Ives believes that investors have underestimated what Meta can accomplish with its billions of dollars spent on AI infrastructure. He also sees Apple as a major beneficiary of the consumer market shift towards AI, calling it 'the toll collector on the consumer AI highway.'

The chip market may take until 2028 or 2029 to reach equilibrium, Ives estimates. He notes that Meta's user base gives it an advantage in the consumer AI market, and that Muse can help move AI beyond early adopters and enterprise users by giving consumers a more familiar way to interact with the technology.