22.4% of Billionaire Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management Is Invested in These 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks

Many billionaire hedge fund managers seem increasingly bullish on technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-focused stocks. Bill Ackman, the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, is no different. The firm's portfolio features several leaders in the ongoing AI revolution, including Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), both of which account for a meaningful share of the hedge fund's public equity investments. Are these attractive AI stocks to buy for average investors? Let's find out.

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1. Microsoft -- 11.89% of the portfolio

Microsoft hasn't been the best-performing tech giant over the past year, not by a long shot. Some investors believe the company's services will be replaced by AI, even as it continues to invest heavily in its own AI ambitions. However, Microsoft's latest quarterly update was a major win for the bulls. For the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30, Microsoft's revenue jumped 18% year over year to $90 billion.

The company's cloud revenue was $59.3 billion, up 27% year over year, while its cloud computing remaining performance obligation (RPO) at the end of the period was $678 billion, an increase of 84% compared to the year-ago period. Management was clear: Microsoft's AI business is helping boost cloud sales. So, it appears that AI is a net benefit for the company right now. Instead of being replaced by the technology, it is incorporating it across its products and services to better serve its customers.

Microsoft's strategy is working, and its RPO suggests (with some caveats) that the company may maintain healthy revenue growth within its all-important cloud business. Meanwhile, the company is working on various initiatives to improve productivity in this unit.

Notably, Microsoft is increasingly relying on its internally developed custom AI chip, Maia, which is helping it reduce the cost of running AI workloads. All that said, Microsoft remains one of the best stocks to capitalize on the vast opportunities in cloud computing and AI, and we haven't mentioned other aspects of the business, including the company's solid dividend program. During the second quarter, Pershing Square Capital increased its stake in Microsoft by almost 10%. That was a great move, in my view, and retail investors should similarly consider doubling down on the stock.

2. Amazon -- 10.49% of the portfolio

While Pershing Square Capital was buying Microsoft shares during the second quarter, it reduced its Amazon stake by about 25%. We don't know the reasons behind that decision. But what we do know is that Amazon remains an outstanding business. Consider the company's second-quarter results. Amazon's net sales grew 20% year over year to $200.6 billion. Amazon Web Services (AWS) -- the tech giant's cloud computing arm -- posted 37% year-over-year sales growth, its fastest growth rate in 18 quarters.

The company's AI business also helped boost its cloud revenue. Some may point out that Amazon is now projecting $220 billion in capex for fiscal year 2026, up from its previous estimate of $200 billion (the increased guidance was largely due to soaring memory chip prices). But the investment is more than justified, considering Amazon's capacity is sold out in the near term (through the end of 2026). Management highlighted that it already has demand for 2028. Note that the company ended the period with a $496 billion backlog, which grew in the triple digits year over year.

This is all good evidence that Amazon has excellent prospects for its AI and cloud businesses at least through the next couple of years, and other aspects of the business look attractive too. Even as AWS is grabbing most of the attention, Amazon's high-margin advertising business is quietly growing at a good clip. In the second quarter, it reported sales of $19.8 billion, up 26% year over year.

Further, Amazon still generates most of its revenue from its e-commerce operations. Over the next few years, we could see modest margin gains in this unit, driven by various AI-powered initiatives. Amazon's overall business looks healthy, and the stock can deliver strong returns over the medium term. I'd double down on Amazon long before I'd consider trimming my position.

Prosper Junior Bakiny has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.