The Best AI Stocks to Own for the Next Decade: Five Tech Giants Positioned for Long-Term Growth

The artificial intelligence revolution is fundamentally reshaping technology investing. Research from Roots Analysis projects the global AI market will expand from approximately $270 billion today to over $5.2 trillion within the next decade. This explosive growth creates a compelling opportunity for investors seeking long-term exposure to AI innovation. While some of tomorrow’s biggest winners may be private companies or startups we haven’t discovered yet, several publicly traded tech giants have already positioned themselves as central players in the AI ecosystem.

These best ai stocks span different segments of the AI value chain—from the underlying hardware infrastructure to cloud platforms and specialized software. By understanding how these companies compete across the AI landscape, investors can build a diversified portfolio that captures multiple growth vectors through 2035 and beyond.

The Foundation Layer: GPU Leadership and Chip Innovation

Nvidia: The Compute Engine Powering AI

The story of AI infrastructure starts with Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). The company has become indispensable to the AI boom by supplying the specialized processors—primarily GPUs and accelerators—that train and run AI models at scale in data centers. Think of Nvidia as the engine providing raw computational horsepower; without it, the entire AI acceleration would slow considerably.

Nvidia’s dominance in this space is striking. Industry analysts estimate the company controls approximately 92% of the GPU market share in data centers, a position reinforced by its proprietary CUDA programming platform. This software-hardware combination creates a formidable competitive moat. Every major cloud provider—the so-called hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—have already invested billions building infrastructure around Nvidia’s architecture. Switching away would require enormous capital reallocation and technical restructuring, giving Nvidia pricing power and customer lock-in.

The company’s $500 billion order backlog underscores the ongoing demand for its products. Despite emerging competition, Nvidia remains the central nervous system of the AI compute layer, making it a core holding for investors betting on sustained AI infrastructure spending through 2035.

Alphabet: Building Chips and Leveraging Ecosystem Dominance

Google’s parent company, Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL / GOOG), operates one of the broadest AI advantage ecosystems in the world. On the software side, the company reaches billions of users through Google Search, YouTube, Android, Gmail, and its broader app suite. This massive distribution network generates unparalleled data and use-case opportunities for AI refinement.

Beyond consumer products, Alphabet also operates Google Cloud and leads the autonomous vehicle market through its Waymo subsidiary. The company has also captured approximately 7% of SpaceX, providing indirect exposure to Starlink’s satellite internet infrastructure—a potential AI compute enabler for the future.

Equally important, Alphabet has emerged as a credible competitor to Nvidia in chip design. The company developed its own custom AI accelerator, the Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), and has trained its flagship AI model, Gemini, on this hardware. Management has signaled openness to selling TPUs to other companies seeking alternatives to Nvidia, suggesting Alphabet could become a major hardware competitor. Few companies globally can match Alphabet’s combination of consumer reach, cloud infrastructure, AI models, and now custom silicon, making it a cornerstone best ai stocks pick for the 2025-2035 window.

The Cloud Platform Layer: Enterprise AI Acceleration

Microsoft: Stability, Azure Growth, and OpenAI Upside

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) remains a foundational holding for AI-focused portfolios. The company operates Azure, the world’s second-largest cloud services platform, and owns approximately 27% of OpenAI—the creator of ChatGPT, the fastest-adopted application in history.

Azure is positioned to capture significant upside as enterprise AI workloads migrate to cloud infrastructure. Companies building and deploying large-scale AI applications need compute, storage, and networking at scale; Azure provides this infrastructure while integrating OpenAI’s capabilities directly into the platform. This integration allows Microsoft to serve customers across the entire AI stack, from model training to application deployment.

Beyond the AI tailwinds, Microsoft offers portfolio stability. The company’s legacy Windows OS and Microsoft 365 software franchises generate reliable cash flows and support a dividend increased for 23 consecutive years. This combination—mature cash-generating businesses plus exposure to emerging AI growth vectors—makes Microsoft attractive for investors who want both near-term stability and long-term AI upside.

Amazon: Cloud Services Plus Strategic AI Partnerships

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) operates AWS, the world’s largest cloud services provider by revenue. Alongside its cloud dominance, the company holds an $8 billion stake in Anthropic, an AI research company and direct competitor to OpenAI. This partnership positions Amazon at the center of enterprise AI adoption.

Beyond Anthropic, Amazon’s core e-commerce, digital advertising, and cloud businesses all benefit from AI-driven optimization. Machine learning already powers Amazon’s recommendation engine, supply chain logistics, and demand forecasting. These applications will only deepen as AI capabilities advance. Amazon arguably doesn’t require AI to remain a winning investment over the next decade given its diversified revenue streams, making the Anthropic partnership and subsequent AI acceleration additional catalysts rather than fundamental necessities.

For investors, owning Amazon provides exposure to the world’s leading cloud platform plus a meaningful stake in an emerging AI competitor, making it one of the better-positioned best ai stocks for diversified AI exposure.

The Software and Application Layer: Custom AI Solutions

Palantir Technologies: Early-Stage AI Software with Enormous Runway

Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) represents the software-as-a-service frontier of AI. The company specializes in building custom software applications on proprietary platforms, serving both government and enterprise clients. Since launching its AIP (AI Platform) in mid-2023, Palantir’s growth has accelerated significantly.

The company is winning substantial contracts in both the government and corporate sectors, yet it still operates with fewer than 1,000 total customers. This represents a massive runway for customer acquisition and expansion, particularly as organizations become more comfortable deploying AI solutions. If Palantir can scale its customer base while growing revenue per customer, the company could deliver remarkable returns over a 10-year horizon.

The primary risk is valuation. Palantir’s stock trades at premium multiples, and the market has priced in considerable future growth. Patient investors should consider building positions gradually rather than deploying capital all at once, allowing for entry points if volatility creates buying opportunities. For long-term investors, however, Palantir’s early-stage position in enterprise AI software and its strong growth trajectory justify inclusion among the best ai stocks for the 2025-2035 window.

Historical Perspective: The Power of Patient Capital

History provides perspective on AI investing. When The Motley Fool recommended Netflix in December 2004, a $1,000 investment would have grown to approximately $509,000 by late 2025. When they recommended Nvidia in April 2005, that same $1,000 would have grown to roughly $1.17 million. These examples illustrate the outsized returns available when investors identify transformative technology platforms early and hold through multiple market cycles.

The five companies outlined here—Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Palantir—represent today’s most obvious beneficiaries of the AI transition. While new companies will certainly emerge and challenge these leaders, these five have demonstrated competitive advantages, market positions, and capital resources that should allow them to participate meaningfully in the AI boom through 2035 and beyond.

Conclusion: Building an AI-Focused Portfolio

Selecting the best ai stocks means balancing exposure to proven infrastructure leaders with emerging software innovators. Nvidia and Alphabet provide the computational and platform foundations that everything else builds upon. Microsoft and Amazon deliver mature cash flows alongside meaningful AI growth vectors. Palantir captures early-stage software disruption with significant customer acquisition potential.

Together, these five companies offer a comprehensive, diversified path to AI exposure. Rather than attempting to identify which private AI startup will be the next breakout winner—a nearly impossible task—patient investors can own the picks and shovels, the platforms, and the early software leaders. By holding these stocks through 2035, investors position themselves to benefit from the AI transition across multiple layers of the technology stack.