The engine of AI: Investment opportunities in supply chain & infrastructure

Key takeaways

• AI relies not just on visible applications, but on a complex ecosystem of chips, design software, cloud services, and data security tools.
• QQQ provides exposure to instrumental companies in the AI stack—from semiconductors and modeling software to cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure.
• By investing beyond just AI “headlines,” QQQ offers exposure to the crucial areas supporting intelligence across industries.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries from healthcare to entertainment. But while the headlines tend to focus on consumer-based products—like chatbots, agents, or self-driving cars—the progress of AI depends on an intricate ecosystem of technology that makes training, computing, and scaling intelligence possible.

For investors, understanding this bigger picture means thinking holistically about AI—not just who’s building the models, but who’s building the machines, software, and cloud capacity behind them.

Invesco QQQ ETF is well known for its exposure to innovators at the forefront of AI. QQQ offers access to essential companies helping power the intelligence supply chain itself.

The AI stack, layer by layer

AI isn't one product or one industry—it's a layered system. Each layer depends on another, and QQQ provides exposure to multiple parts of this stack within a single ETF.

From chips to helping users analyze large amounts of data, AI is increasingly everywhere—and QQQ holds companies innovating across the spectrum.

Why the infrastructure matters 

While consumer AI products may change quickly, the infrastructure that makes them possible has often proved more durable, for a few reasons:

• The chips that run AI require generational engineering cycles
• The design software behind chip architecture is deeply embedded and often mission-critical
• The cloud services that handle AI training and storage are essential

Rather than trying to pick one winner in the race to build or apply AI, QQQ spreads exposure across multiple potential enablers of long-term AI growth. That means investors don’t have to decide between semiconductors, software, or cloud platforms—they can gain access to all three.

In other words, while the end products of AI may evolve rapidly, the foundational tools, platforms, and computing layers have tended to endure—especially when demand for AI has accelerated across sectors like defense, energy, and entertainment.

Beyond buzzwords: QQQ's diversified AI reach

While semiconductor leader Nvidia remains one of QQQ’s largest holdings, the ETF’s broader portfolio includes companies many investors may not associate with AI at first—like Cadence Design Systems, which provides the software underlying advanced chip design, or Autodesk, whose modeling tools use AI to help supercharge design for industries like architecture and film.

The common thread is that these “behind-the-scenes” businesses help other innovators create, test, and deploy intelligence at scale. Whether it’s enabling the next generation of chips or securing the data AI runs on, these foundational companies have been essential to the AI ecosystem, which could power next-gen intelligence.

AI has moved from concept to utility. It’s now driving innovation in areas like medical diagnosis, fraud detection, logistics, and productivity software. And behind every “smart” moment are components—chips, cloud servers, simulation engines, security protocols—designed and managed by some of the world’s most advanced companies.

QQQ can give investors diversified exposure to the backbone that supports AI—not just the apps and headlines, but the broader supply chain making intelligence possible.