These 5 AI Stocks Could Be Smart Buys for Long-Term Investors

Key Points

• Nvidia and AMD look poised to be artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure winners.

• Microsoft and Alphabet have strong core businesses and fast-growing cloud computing units.

• AI is driving growth at Meta, and the company is investing heavily in top AI talent.

• 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia ›

Artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become the main driver of growth across the technology sector. With AI still appearing to be in its early innings and top tech companies investing heavily in the technology, it could be a smart move to invest in leading AI companies.

Let's look at five AI stocks well-positioned for long-term growth to invest in now.

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Image source: Getty Images.

1. Nvidia

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has become the face of the AI boom, and rightfully so. Its graphics processing units (GPUs) are the main chips used to train AI models and run inference workloads, making it a clear winner as demand for computing power soars.

Nvidia's data center revenue has exploded over the past few years, fueled by cloud providers and enterprises racing to build AI infrastructure. Meanwhile, the company has created a wide moat by building a powerful ecosystem around its chips through its CUDA software platform and networking assets.

While growth rates will eventually slow, Nvidia's position at the center of AI infrastructure looks secure. The company continues to expand its product portfolio, putting it in an enviable spot to sustain strong earnings power well into the future.

2. Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) has positioned itself as Nvidia's primary challenger in the GPU market. The company has gained some solid traction in the inference market, which is a good thing, since it is eventually expected to become much larger than the one for AI training.

Beyond GPUs, AMD's EPYC server central processing units (CPUs) continue to win share in data centers. The CPU server market isn't nearly as large as the one for GPUs, but it's still an important one that is growing quickly.

At the end of the day, AMD doesn't have to take meaningful share away from Nvidia to be a winner. Given the growth of the AI infrastructure market, especially with inference, taking a little market share will go a long way to driving substantial growth in the years ahead.

3. Microsoft

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was one of the first megacap tech companies to really embrace AI through its investment and partnership with OpenAI. Through the partnership, it embedded AI tools throughout its suite of productivity programs like Word, Excel, and Teams. That is now helping drive revenue growth for the company, as enterprise customers' adoption of its AI assistant copilots begins to accelerate.

At the same time, its cloud computing unit, Azure, has been gaining market share as companies increasingly use its infrastructure and AI services to help train and deploy AI models. While capacity remains constrained, Microsoft's balance sheet strength and consistent cash flow generation give it the flexibility to keep investing heavily in AI infrastructure to meet growing demand.

With AI driving growth throughout its business units, Microsoft looks like a clear long-term AI winner.

4. Alphabet

Rather than being disrupted by AI, Alphabet's (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) Google Search continues to benefit from AI enhancements. Its AI Overviews are now being used by billions of people each month, helping drive more search queries, while it just recently launched its new AI Mode globally. Meanwhile, it's using AI to move beyond simple text searches, with Google Lens and Circle to Search also helping drive search queries. Last quarter, its visual searches soared 70% year over year, with many of them being valuable shopping queries.

Google Cloud is another growth driver, with its Gemini AI model helping it gain traction with enterprise customers. Alphabet has also developed its own custom AI chips, giving it an edge in optimizing performance and lowering costs. Like Microsoft, Alphabet is investing heavily in AI infrastructure to try and keep up with growing demand.

The company is also a leader in autonomous driving with its fast-growing Waymo robotaxi business, as well as in quantum computing with its Willow chip. Between its market-leading businesses and emerging opportunities, Alphabet is an AI stock to own.

5. Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) has gone all-in on AI, using it to increase user engagement across Facebook and Instagram. It's now using AI to improve its recommendation algorithms, which is leading users to spend more time on its social media sites.

At the same time, the company has rolled out generative AI tools for advertisers, creating new ways for them to customize campaigns and better target potential customers. This combination has led to more ad inventory and high ad prices.

However, that's just part of Meta's AI story, as it recently hired a lot of top AI talent at its Superintelligence Labs division. The company is now restructuring the unit to focus on four areas: AI research, developing superintelligence, building and deploying AI tools and features for its platform and products, and data center infrastructure.

With Meta willing to spend big on AI, it looks well-positioned to become a long-term AI winner.

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Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.