AI vs Internet is the comparison I often make, and it comes up every time someone asks me: ‘What’s the best AI stock to buy?’
It’s a fair question. But the truth is, this moment feels a lot like the early internet days — somewhere around the mid-1990s. Back then, Netscape was the hot name, Yahoo was on fire, and everyone thought they had “the” internet play. But think about it: Amazon was barely a blip in 1995. Google didn’t launch until 1998. Facebook came years later. Netflix was mailing DVDs. The true giants of the internet boom weren’t obvious at the time.
That’s why I frame it as AI vs Internet — same playbook, only faster.
Why This Isn’t 1999 Yet
1999 was the bubble peak, when valuations went parabolic. Today feels earlier, more like 1995–1996, when the internet was scaling but before the winners were crowned.
- Then: ~45 million people online globally in 1996.
- Now: ChatGPT hit 100 million users in just two months — the fastest adoption of any consumer app in history.
- Then: Billions poured into laying fiber and building data centers.
- Now: Big Tech is spending hundreds of billions annually on AI infrastructure — Google’s capex is running north of $85B, Meta is guiding $66–72B, and Microsoft topped $30B in a single quarter.
Just like the 1990s, the money is going into the “rails” first.
Why AI Is Even Bigger Than the Internet
Here’s the part that gets overlooked: the internet created whole new industries (web developers, e-commerce, digital advertising) — but AI is different. AI isn’t a new industry. It’s every industry.
- Every business will use AI to become more efficient, more profitable, or both. From healthcare to finance, manufacturing to law — there’s no sector untouched.
- AI will also spawn industries we can’t even picture today, just like no one in 1995 imagined an app store or social media marketing manager.
- That’s why the opportunity set is larger. The internet connected us. AI is actively changing the way work gets done.
This is why I believe the story of AI vs Internet tilts in AI’s favor long-term.
What This Means for Investors
Here’s how I’m thinking about AI investing right now:
- Picks & Shovels (the rails): Companies like Nvidia (NVDA) — fresh off another monster earnings report — are providing the GPUs, memory, and networking that make AI possible. This is the low-hanging fruit.
- Platforms with traction: Software companies like Palantir (PLTR) are embedding AI into the workflows of Fortune 500 firms and governments. They’re early, but sticky.
- Future giants (not yet public): Just like Amazon and Google didn’t exist as investable options in 1996, some of the biggest AI winners of this cycle may not even be listed yet. That’s the wild card — and it’s why positioning matters.
AI Is Changing How We Invest in AI
The irony isn’t lost on me: we’re using AI itself to analyze companies, detect trends, and stress test investment strategies. Twenty years ago, investors relied on Excel and gut instinct. Today, we’re layering AI analytics into our process — letting the technology help us identify the very companies building the future of AI.
That’s a flywheel that didn’t exist in 1996.
👉 If you want a taste of how we’ve applied this approach before, check out our earlier post: AI’s Evolution and Why the Semiconductor Selloff Looked Like an Opportunity — where we said the chip sector was due for a bounce. Since then, semiconductors are up more than 20%. Call it luck if you want… we’ll call it being early.
Key Stats to Ground the Thesis
- Internet users 1996: ~45M vs. ChatGPT: 100M in 2 months
- Enterprise AI adoption: 78% of companies reported using AI in 2024 (up from 55% a year earlier)
- McKinsey estimates: up to $4.4 trillion in annual value creation from generative AI
- Nvidia’s Q2 2025: $46.7B in revenue, $41B from data centers, and a bullish guide for the rest of the year
Final Thought
If you’re looking at AI vs Internet and wondering if it’s too late — it isn’t. We’re still in the “fiber optic cables and dial-up” phase. The picks and shovels are obvious. The platforms are emerging. And the next household names in AI are probably still private.
That’s both the challenge and the opportunity.
Call to Action
🌊 At RollingWave Capital, we’re not just following the AI trend — we’re using AI to invest in AI. That’s how we cut through hype, focus on where the money’s really being made, and build portfolios that can benefit from this wave without getting washed out in the volatility.
👉 Curious how AI fits into your portfolio? Let’s talk.