China hosted its largest AI event of the year in Shanghai this Saturday, drawing in thousands of attendees. The 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) garnered more than 800 companies and unveiled over 3,000 AI-related exhibits from more than 30 countries and regions.
Unfortunately, one big name missing at the biggest AI event of the year was Nvidia. Following news of the H20 chip-ban reversal only a while back, the chip-maker’s absence was clearly visible at the AI event.
In contrast, rival Huawei boasted a large display, particularly focused on its Ascend AI chips. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has called Huawei “one of the most formidable technology companies in the world,” previously warning that it could replace his company in China if the U.S. continues with its export curbs on Beijing.
Huawei introduced its Ascend 384 AI compute node system at the said AI event. The company is marketing the product as “Atlas 900 A3 SuperPoD.” Besides Huawei, other noteworthy players in the supply chain for advanced chips are semiconductor designer Moore Threads and startup Yunsilicon, both of which had booths at WAIC.
For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds. The hedge fund data is as of Q1 2025.
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A group of analysts studying data on a large monitor.
10. Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 100
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) is one of the 10 AI Stocks Everyone Is Watching Closely. On July 28, Morgan Stanley reiterated the stock as “Overweight,” stating that Walmart is a “clear leader” in retail artificial intelligence.
“AI use cases in Food Retail are accelerating, driving stronger sales growth and greater efficiencies. WMT a clear leader.”
In other news, Walmart has recently unveiled plans to roll out a suite of AI-powered “super agents” for enhancing the shopping experience for customers and streamlining operations.
According to the retailer, the four agents powered by agentic AI are designed for Walmart shoppers, store employees, suppliers and sellers, and software developers. These agents will be the primary way of contact for the said groups very soon.
These super agents will replace existing agents and AI tools and will be the first point of contact for every AI interaction that the groups will have with Walmart. The company is planning to leverage artificial intelligence to boost its e-commerce growth, with a goal set for online sales to account for 50% of its total sales within five years.
One of the agents from Walmart, Sparky, has already been made available for shoppers on Walmart’s app as a Gen-AI-powered tool, albeit not in its super-agent form yet.
Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) operates retail and wholesale stores and clubs, eCommerce websites, and mobile applications worldwide.
9. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 104
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one of the 10 AI Stocks Everyone Is Watching Closely. On July 28, Deutsche Bank reiterated the stock as “Buy” with a $345 price target. The firm said that more “patience” is needed for Tesla’s robotaxi service, but that it is sticking with the stock.
“Tesla’s robotaxi service is currently still very small scale, having accumulated only +7k miles since the launch on June 22nd with 10-20 vehicles in the fleet. Management did not provide a lot of clarity regarding the pace of expansion although Elon Musk indicated the goal of technically being able to cover half the US population by year-end.”
In other news, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard reiterated an “Overweight” rating on the same day with a $355.00 price target. The firm anticipates robotaxi expansion into the Bay Area in the third quarter. It believes this will be followed by Arizona, Nevada, and possibly Florida in the fourth quarter of 2025 or 2026.
Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) is an automotive and clean energy company that leverages advanced artificial intelligence in its autonomous driving technology and robotics initiatives.
