What happened on Pearl Street in September of 1882 changed the world forever.
That’s when the first “large-scale” power plant in the U.S. – Pearl Street Station – opened its doors in New York.
It had taken centuries for electricity to go from idea to reality. But even then, electricity still wasn’t widely used. It was limited to the ultra-wealthy.
The Pearl Street plant changed that.
Sketch of the Pearl Street Station
Source: Wikipedia
It had two Edison 200 horsepower dynamos supplying power to about 85 customers.
Thirty years later, there were over 3,600 central power stations in operation. Together, they were enough to power over 3 million homes.
When it comes to new technology, things tend to happen slowly at first… then all at once. And the Pearl Street plant is just one of many examples.
The same thing happened with the automobile.
It took decades until the masses saw how useful a motorized carriage could be. We can see that in the two photos below…
New York City’s Fifth Avenue
Sources: U.S. National Archives, George Grantham Bain Collection
The first one shows New York City’s Fifth Avenue on Easter morning in 1900. You have to look hard to find the only car in the photo.
By 1913, same place, same time, you have to look hard to find the only horse and carriage.
The internet is another technology that we all rely on today.
It started as a project in the 1970s to connect regional academic and military networks in the U.S. And it wasn’t until the 1990s that it exploded onto the scene, with adoption growing exponentially.
In 1997 – the first time the U.S. Census asked questions about internet usage – only 18% of Americans said they had access. Today, nearly 94% of the U.S. population says they use the internet.
Now, after decades of development, a new technology is taking the world by storm. And it happened slowly at first… then all at once.
A Moment That Shocked the World
I’m talking about artificial intelligence (AI).
It’s a hot topic – one that Inside Wall Street editor Nomi Prins dove into yesterday at her urgent briefing, The AI Ultimatum.
If you use programs like ChatGPT, the popular AI-enabled chatbot, or Adobe’s Photoshop program with generative AI… You know how useful AI can be.
But just like technologies of the past, it took decades of development to get to that point.
The AI journey started back in 1956 as an academic discipline. For years, it went through cycles of hype followed by disappointment after disappointment.
We just didn’t have the right tools to make the world of The Jetsons come to life. Until a breakthrough came in the form of a chess match.
In 1996, an AI computer played then-chess world champion Garry Kasparov in a six-game match. It lost four games to two. But it learned a lot during those matches. So did the programmers behind it.
A year later came the rematch. This time, the AI surpassed Kasparov.
It was a moment that shocked the world. And it put AI on the map.
But even with that early win, large institutional investors were skeptical. They wanted to see more.
The innovation was there. We had proof of its capability. But we didn’t have the right processors to run such powerful systems.
The AI Funding Boom
It wasn’t until around the mid-2010s that venture capital and other institutional investors started funding more and more AI projects. At that point, they were betting that AI’s time was finally around the corner.
We can even see this in the chart below…
Back in 2015, AI investment was just $12.7 billion. Last year, it hit $91.9 billion. That’s more than 32% growth in AI funding per year.
And according to Goldman Sachs, investment in AI is set to grow 25% per year over the next two years to more than $150 billion.
That’s about 12x more than in 2015 alone.
The main reason is that investment is finally starting to pay off.
Editor Nomi Prins wrote about this in the June edition of her Distortion Report letter:
The market for AI applications – apps that can’t function without AI – is on track to reach $192.6 billion by 2025, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).
That’s compound growth of 31.2%.
And global executives see the writing on the wall, judging by a recent poll by Accenture.
Accenture asked execs whether they believe AI will play an important role in their business in the next three to five years. Nearly all – 98% – said yes.
In other words, corporate executives know they need to adopt AI systems in the coming years, or they could lose market share.
Now Is the Time to Bet on AI
AI stocks have exploded this year. Stocks like C3.ai, Super Micro Computer, and Nvidia are up 181%, 226%, and 237%, respectively.
You may think you’ve missed the AI boom.
But far from it. If you take a long-term view, AI could even be another life-changing moment in the market.
It happened with electricity. It happened with the automobile. It happened with computers. And it happened again with the internet.
Today, it’s happening with AI.
Investing at the right time in these massive trends can create life-changing gains for some investors. Like in Amazon, which is up 62x over the last 18 years…
Or in Apple, which is up an astonishing 157x since 2005…
The point is, even if you think you missed the boat, you haven’t.
Now is the time for AI. Are you ready?
Regards,
 |
John Pangere
Analyst, Inside Wall Street with Nomi Prins
P.S. As I showed you above, large investors and corporations are investing massive sums to get a leg up on AI. And right now, you have a short window of time to get in on this frenzy.
The good news is, Inside Wall Street editor Nomi Prins just put out an urgent briefing, The AI Ultimatum, where she shared details on her favorite AI company right now.
It’s trading for only $0.26. And a major announcement could send this tiny AI company soaring at any point.
That’s because one of the biggest organizations in the world missed the AI frenzy. And now, it’s scrambling to catch up… to the tune of a just-announced $826 billion spending spree.
Nomi released her urgent briefing, The AI Ultimatum, yesterday. You can click here to watch it and learn more about this tiny company.