2025 AI ETF Performance Showdown: Which Global ETF Leaders Are Winning?

The artificial intelligence sector continues to dominate investment conversations in 2025, with AI-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) delivering impressive returns. A comprehensive analysis of global ETF products reveals striking performance divergence, with semiconductor-focused funds and generative AI specialists leading the charge.

The Performance Leaders: A Quick Snapshot

Year-to-date 2025 returns tell a compelling story. The Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (CHAT) has surged 49.5%, while the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) delivered 42.5% gains. Meanwhile, the WisdomTree Artificial Intelligence and Innovation Fund (WTAI) captured 34% appreciation. These standout performers significantly outpaced the broader S&P 500’s 14.7% return, underlining AI’s outsized influence on market dynamics.

The ROBO Global Artificial Intelligence ETF (THNQ) and Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AIQ) completed the top-five performers list, both delivering 30%+ returns year-to-date.

Beyond 2025: Long-Term Track Records Matter

Short-term gains grab headlines, but seasoned investors examine longer time horizons. The comparison becomes more nuanced when zooming out:

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF demonstrates remarkable resilience, posting a 222% three-year return and 264% five-year return—substantially exceeding the S&P 500’s 77.8% five-year performance. This global ETF’s sustained outperformance reflects the structural demand for semiconductor solutions across industries.

The Roundhill fund, launched in May 2023, cannot yet show three or five-year returns. However, its 51.9% one-year return signals powerful recent momentum.

The ROBO Global and Global X funds have each generated 130%+ three-year returns, validating generative AI’s emerging role in portfolio diversification.

Why Semiconductors? The Hidden Engine Behind AI

The VanEck Semiconductor ETF’s architecture reveals the foundation supporting the AI boom. This global ETF holds 25 positions across the chip manufacturing ecosystem, with assets exceeding $35.8 billion. Its 0.35% expense ratio makes it cost-efficient for index tracking.

Top holdings illuminate why semiconductors matter:

Nvidia dominates with 18.3% portfolio weight and a staggering 1,070% three-year return. The company’s GPU dominance in AI data center deployment remains unmatched, commanding premium valuations.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), the world’s largest chip foundry, represents 9.41% of the fund. TSMC’s three-year return of 311% reflects critical infrastructure positioning in the AI supply chain.

Broadcom (7.98% weight) and Advanced Micro Devices (6.75% weight) round out the semiconductor powerhouses, with Broadcom specializing in custom AI chips and AMD competing in GPU markets.

Micron Technology (6.61% weight) captures memory chip demand, where AI applications require massive data processing capacity.

Combined, these five holdings represent 49.05% of the fund’s total return generation, demonstrating concentration risk but also highlighting where genuine value creation occurs.

The Generative AI Play: Broader Tech Integration

The Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF takes a different approach as an actively managed global ETF with 44 holdings and a higher 0.75% expense ratio. Its strategy reflects how AI adoption permeates beyond chip manufacturers into software and cloud platforms.

Nvidia still dominates (6.90% weight), but the concentration is lower than the semiconductor ETF. Alphabet captures 6.55% weighting, reflecting Google’s aggressive generative AI integration across search, cloud services, and enterprise products.

Microsoft (3.95% weight) benefits from its OpenAI partnership and Copilot integration across Office products and Azure cloud services. Advanced Micro Devices again appears (3.89% weight), showing AMD’s relevance in both categories.

SK Hynix, a South Korean memory chip specialist, demonstrates this fund’s global ETF positioning, capturing manufacturers outside the U.S. equity market.

The Roundhill fund’s more diversified approach ($1.05 billion in assets) appeals to investors seeking broader generative AI exposure beyond semiconductors, though its higher fees merit consideration against index alternatives.

The Investment Calculus: Semiconductor vs. Generative AI Focus

Comparing these two leading global ETF products reveals distinct trade-offs:

VanEck Semiconductor ETF offers proven five-year outperformance, lower costs (0.35%), and exposure to foundational AI infrastructure. Its 264% five-year return obliterates market benchmarks, suggesting structural tailwinds remain intact.

Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF captures emerging software layer opportunities and benefits from active management’s stock-picking advantages. Its 2025 performance surge suggests momentum, though limited track record poses timing risk.

The semiconductor ETF appears more suitable for long-term positioning, while the Roundhill vehicle appeals to those betting on near-term generative AI adoption acceleration.

Market Context: Why AI ETFs Exploded in 2025

The proliferation of AI-focused global ETF products reflects institutional demand for pure-play exposure. Only three years ago, dedicated AI ETFs barely existed. Today, 10+ distinct vehicles provide multiple entry points, each with different geographic and sectoral emphases.

This explosive growth mirrors previous technology booms, suggesting both genuine opportunity and potential overcrowding. Assets under management matter—the $200 million minimum screening used here filters out nascent, illiquid products where hidden costs lurk.

Bottom Line: Global ETF Selection in the AI Era

2025 has validated AI’s investment thesis, with sector-focused global ETF vehicles delivering returns that dwarf broad market indices. The question isn’t whether AI deserves portfolio allocation, but which vehicle best captures the structural opportunity.

VanEck Semiconductor’s deep track record and fundamental positioning in the AI supply chain suggest staying power. Roundhill’s generative AI focus captures nearer-term adoption upside. Sophisticated investors might allocate across both, using semiconductor exposure as core holdings and generative AI vehicles for tactical positioning.

The data suggests AI-focused global ETF allocations have rewarded patience and conviction—and that conviction appears structurally justified by the reshaping of technology and compute infrastructure occurring in real-time.