AI Capital Keeps Growing: the Rally Spreads From Chips to IPOs

American equities are living through a powerful stretch, with the Nasdaq index setting fresh records. The symbol of this run is NVDA stock, closing in on a 6 trillion dollar market value. According to AdvisorPerspectives, the company sits only a few percent away from that mark, with shares trading back near peak levels. The presenter's thesis is that this is no longer the story of a single chipmaker but a multi-layered AI rally in which capital itself is changing direction.

From chips to infrastructure: money spreads out

The first wave flowed only into computing power, because running AI models demanded accelerator chips and the company supplying that hardware captured the biggest gain. Then a second need appeared: data centers to house the chips, electricity to run them, and cooling systems around them. Investment duly spread from chip stocks toward infrastructure and energy names, and a vast ecosystem began to take shape.

The scale of that spread shows up in capital expenditure . Four large technology firms, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Google, have earmarked hundreds of billions of dollars for data centers, computing capacity and AI infrastructure. According to ThirdPoleMarkets, their combined 2026 spending target reaches 700 billion dollars. The money has entered the real economy, in a sense: new generation sites are being built, new data centers are rising, and a whole business volume has formed around financing chip purchases. The Motley Fool's compilation of data center outlays, published as Fool research, puts figures on the same appetite.

Software and security bounce back

A third phase now seems to be approaching: software and cybersecurity stocks are gathering strength again. Only months ago these names were viewed with suspicion, and some argued AI would take business away from software firms. The mood has reversed; the market now prices the idea that AI can make these companies' products more effective. According to Calcalistech, security names such as Palo Alto, CrowdStrike and Fortinet have reached record levels. Money circulating from one wagon to another within the same theme is a fair description.

The central question is unchanged: will the trillions spent earn their return? That is exactly where markets are focused, because corporate staying power depends on the profitability target. Encouraging examples have started to arrive. Anthropic reached a multi-billion dollar revenue level within a few years, showing rapid growth is possible. According to Fortune, that performance is one of the main forces feeding the listing expectation.

The IPO wave and the index mechanism

The buzz around AI companies has begun pulling private firms into the public market. In June, SpaceX completed one of the largest market entries in American history. According to CNBC, the company raised 75 billion dollars in the offering and its shares started trading on the Nasdaq. Bigger ones may follow: Anthropic is said to be preparing an entry at a 2 trillion dollar valuation. According to Fortune, a debut of that size could eclipse even SpaceX.

The critical point is not the arrival of new tickers but how trillion-dollar entrants reshape index funds . When a giant joins an index, funds tracking it must buy the stock, and the weight of the other members falls. So even investors who never buy these names directly feel the change over time, provided their portfolio holds a fund following the Nasdaq or broad American benchmarks. According to TechFundingNews, OpenAI, reportedly seeking bridge financing at a 1.4 trillion dollar valuation, looks like the next candidate, and the same mechanism would apply to it.

Which wagon: a warning and selectivity

Popularity and a fair price are not the same thing; most of the time the opposite holds. Citing a 2026 review, the presenter reports that more than 40 percent of companies floated this year now trade below their offer price. Rushing into new AI listings is therefore unwise without careful valuation work. From here on, picking the right wagon will matter more than boarding the train, and company earnings will become the deciding factor. Money sometimes flows to crypto, sometimes to gold; today it flows to American companies. The task is not to turn away from one field but to update the portfolio choice with the direction of capital.