# How to Invest in AI (2025)

> Source: <https://reactionwheel.net/2025/09/how-to-invest-in-ai.html>
> Published: 2026-08-16 10:04:32+00:00

I’ve been a huge fan of Patrick O’Shaughnessy since I was on his [Invest Like the Best podcast](https://joincolossus.com/series/invest-like-the-best/). Patrick asks good questions and, in a world that now abounds with answers, the most valuable people are the ones who can ask the best questions.

Back in May, Patrick asked me an interesting question: where is AI in the tech cycle and what does that say about investing in it? I told him my thoughts. He said, “great, can you turn that into 3000 words?” for his new magazine, [The Colossus Review](https://joincolossus.com/mag/). I told him I didn’t have time to write 3000 words, but I’d be happy to write 5000 words. [That piece is now out](https://joincolossus.com/article/ai-will-not-make-you-rich/). The setup is:

Anyone who invests in the

newnew thing must answer two questions: First, how much value will this innovation create? And second, who will capture it? Information and communication technology (ICT) was a revolution whose value was captured by startups and led to thousands of newly rich founders, employees, and investors. In contrast, shipping containerization was a revolution whose value was spread so thin that in the end, it made only a single founder temporarily rich and only a single investor a little bit richer.Is generative AI more like the former or the latter? Will it be the basis of many future industrial fortunes, or a net loser for the investment community as a whole, with a few zero-sum winners here and there?

I think it’s pretty good. Take a read.