Wedbush Securities' Dan Ives, one of Wall Street's most outspoken tech bulls, says the artificial intelligence boom is still in its early stages — about 10:30 p.m. at the AI party — as trillions in global investment pour into what he calls the "fourth industrial revolution."
Dan Ives: The AI Boom Is Still Early In The Night
Speaking on SoFi's The Important Part Podcast on Thursday, Ives said that despite headlines calling AI a bubble, the innovation cycle is still just beginning.
"We've said this AI party started at 9:00 p.m. and it was going to 4:00 a.m.," he explained. "It's now 10:30 p.m., so we're still early in the night."
He compared today's market excitement to the early 2000s internet boom but argued that this cycle is driven by tangible progress.
"The bears are looking at the nightclub from the outside through the windows," he said. "At 6 a.m., when the bulls and bears meet, the bulls will have had a much better night."
Ives believes only a fraction of the opportunity has been realized.
"Only about 3% of enterprises in the U.S. have gone down the AI path," he noted, predicting "massive adoption" ahead as businesses integrate generative AI into core operations.
See Also: Fear Of An AI Bubble? This Time Is Different, Goldman Says
Predicting Robots, Self-Driving Cars And A Spending Explosion
Ives, who has covered tech since the 1990s, forecast that by 2030, one in every 12 to 15 households will have a humanoid robot and that 20% of vehicles will be autonomous.
He described the coming decade as “the second inning” of a nine-inning game, adding that trillions will be spent on AI infrastructure, from chips to data centers.
He called the next five years a "bright green light for tech" amid the Fed's anticipated rate cuts and record corporate cash reserves.
Wall Street Divided On Whether AI Is A Bubble
While Ives sees years of expansion ahead, others urge caution. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon warned that AI's impact could replace jobs at a pace that causes major problems, while IMF economists have likened the surge in investment to the dot-com era.
Bank of America Securities analyst Vivek Arya noted that concerns over vendor financing in the U.S. semiconductor sector are largely exaggerated.
Investor Steve Eisman, famed for forecasting the 2008 financial crisis, issued a warning that the U.S. economy is growing increasingly reliant on AI-related capital spending.
Economist Justin Wolfers shared similar concerns, noting that “the non-AI parts” of the economy are stagnating, while Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi added that 22 states are already experiencing economic contraction.
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