Polymarket Lets You Wager on the Future -- I'd Rather Own These 2 AI Stocks

Polymarket, the cryptocurrency-based prediction platform, is becoming a popular way to place binary bets on elections, geopolitical conflicts, economic data, and other news-driven events. Nearly half a million people were trading actively on Polymarket as of last October, and that figure could keep rising as it attracts more short-term speculators with simple "A or B" bets.

That might be a fun way to earn some extra money. But unless you're a psychic, your losses will likely erase a lot of your gains over the long term. So instead of spending too much time placing bets on Polymarket, I'd rather own two high-growth artificial intelligence (AI) stocks with a lot more growth potential -- TSMC (NYSE: TSM) and Nebius Group (NASDAQ: NBIS) -- to grow my money over the long term.

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TSMC

TSMC is the world's largest and most advanced contract chipmaker. It manufactures its top-tier chips in Taiwan, but it also operates foundries in China, the U.S., Japan, and Germany.

The world's leading fabless chipmakers -- including Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), AMD, and Apple -- all rely on TSMC to produce their smallest, densest, and most power-efficient chips. That makes it a linchpin of the semiconductor market.

TSMC dominated the market by adopting ASML's (NASDAQ: ASML) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems -- which are used to optically etch circuit patterns in the world's smallest chips -- before its chief competitors. It plans to maintain that lead by ramping up production of its smallest 2nm chips in the second half of this year.

In 2025, TSMC's revenue surged 36% in USD terms. Most of that growth came from its high-performance computing (HPC) segment, which manufactures Nvidia's high-end data center chips for training AI algorithms. Its gross and operating margins also expanded as the demand for new chips outstripped its available capacity, and its EPS soared 46%.

From 2024 to 2029, TSMC expects to grow its revenue at a near-25% CAGR in USD terms as the AI market continues to expand. Its stock still looks reasonably valued at 22 times this year's earnings, and it will remain a foundational chipmaking and AI stock for the foreseeable future.

Nebius

Nebius was once known as Yandex, which owned Russia's top search engine and various websites, mobile apps, and cloud services. But in 2022, the sanctions against Russia forced it to suspend trading of its U.S.-listed shares, divest its Russian assets, relocate to the Netherlands, and rebrand itself as Nebius -- a provider of cloud-based AI infrastructure services. All of its first-party and shared data centers are now located in the U.S. and Europe.

Today, Nebius installs powerful AI-optimized servers in its own data centers and provides that computing power to companies that don't want to install on-site servers. It also provides customized AI solutions for the data training, edtech, automation, and robotics markets.

Nebius' stock resumed trading under its new ticker on Oct. 21, 2024. It's risen over sevenfold since that opening trade. In 2024, its revenue surged 462% as the AI boom lit a blazing fire under its business. In 2025, its revenue soared another 351% to $530 million. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) improved year over year from negative $266 million to negative $65 million.

From 2025 to 2027, analysts expect Nebius' revenue to grow at a 322% CAGR as it generates more revenue from its multi-billion dollar deals with Microsoft, Meta Platforms, and other hyperscalers. They also expect its adjusted EBITDA to turn positive this year and nearly quadruple in 2027. With an enterprise value of $38.4 billion, its stock still looks surprisingly undervalued at 28 times this year's adjusted EBITDA.

Both stocks are smart AI plays

Investing in TSMC and Nebius isn't as exciting as making bets on Polymarket, but I think they'll deliver bigger long-term gains as the AI market expands and evolves. More conservative investors should stick with TSMC's evergreen business, while growth-oriented ones should pay attention to Nebius' bold bet on cloud-based AI data centers.

Leo Sun has positions in ASML, Apple, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends ASML, Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.