According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, the race to dominate artificial intelligence is no longer a game of algorithms. Rather, energy costs will be playing a decisive role in determining how successful countries are.
As discussed on CNBC, Nadella told the World Economic Forum (WEF) that GDP growth, regardless of location, will be directly correlated with the cost of energy needed to harness AI. He also warned that high costs could undermine national competitiveness.
Nadella described AI computing as driven by a new global commodity: tokens. These are basic units of processing that users of artificial intelligence models buy to run computational tasks.
The job of every economy and every firm in the economy is to translate these tokens into economic growth, then if you have a cheaper commodity, it’s better.
These comments come as hyperscalers spend billions of dollars building out data centers to power AI. Take Microsoft, for example, which stated earlier in 2025 that it expects to spend $80 billion on the construction of AI data centers.
Nadella, however, has cautioned that growing energy demands may face resistance.
I would say we will quickly lose even the social permission to actually take something like energy, which is a scarce resource, and use it to generate these tokens, if these tokens are not improving health outcomes, education outcomes, public sector efficiency, private sector competitiveness across all sectors.
-Nadella said.
Overall, Nadella’s remarks suggest that the AI race will eventually be decided by the extent to which countries can secure affordable energy and scale infrastructure.
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 Q3 2025.
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10. NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 53
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) is one of the 10 AI Stocks on Market Radar. On January 16, TD Cowen raised the price target on the stock to $285.00 from $260.00 while maintaining a “Buy” rating. The firm is positive on NXPI owing to its conservative setup and attractive valuation.
The firm said NXPI’s cautious first-quarter outlook leaves room for upside, while other semiconductor companies may see muted growth. The company is one of TD Cowen’s top three picks heading into earnings alongside IFX and ADI.
Our top three names into earnings are NXPI, IFX, and ADI as we continue to favor names that are either industrial-heavy and/or have set conservative bars with lean inventory.
From a growth standpoint, NXPI has been lagging its peers, but recent demand commentary has appeared to be stronger than that of other companies in the group. This, the firm believes, leaves room for upside even if broader industry growth remains muted, given the conservative Q1 2026 bar.
The firm added that gross margin linearity could perform better than peers if channel inventory is replenished to the middle of the target range. This was indicated during the company’s September quarter earnings call. However, NXPI’s lower internal leverage compared to peers may limit upside.
We are constructive given favorable valuation and growing capital return story.
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) is a Dutch semiconductor manufacturing and design company.
9. CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 66
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is one of the 10 AI Stocks on Market Radar. On January 20, Citizens analyst reiterated a Market Outperform rating on the stock with a $550.00 price target.
According to the firm, CrowdStrike’s recent acquisitions in identity governance and secure browser space help the company close potential functional gaps and limit competitors’ ability to claim broader coverage, particularly Palo Alto Networks.
Security executives continue to favor larger platforms, highlighting how this sentiment works in favor of CrowdStrike. As Founder & CEO George Kurtz has noted, CrowdStrike is the “first hyperscaler of cybersecurity.”
As such, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence presents opportunities for cyber vendors to increase sales of current offerings while developing or acquiring tools tailored to AI security needs.
Based on Citizens’ Cyber 66 survey data, CrowdStrike is in a prominent position to capitalize on the AI security market.
Analysts on Wall Street have a consensus “Buy” rating on the stock. The average price target of $564 implies a 24.26% upside; the Street-high target of $706 implies a 55.55% upside.
CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) is a leader in AI-driven endpoint and cloud workload protection.
