AI has become the tech industry’s core capital project, and 2025 is the year the spend shows up everywhere from grid loads to OEM backlogs. Microsoft is guiding to record quarterly capex of roughly $30 billion as AI demand compounds in Azure; Meta lifted its full-year 2025 capex outlook to $66–$72 billion to accelerate compute and data-center build-outs; and Amazon is pacing toward ~$100 billion of total capex this year as it scales AWS and enterprise AI contracts.
Together with peers, hyperscaler investment tied to AI infrastructure is widely expected to run into the low-$300-billions in 2025. The common thread: capacity first, monetization second.
Throughput is validating the thesis. NVIDIA reported $46.7 billion in revenue last quarter, with data-center sales around $41 billion as the Blackwell cycle ramps — evidence that training and serve capacity remains the tightest bottleneck in the stack. On the demand side, AI is moving from pilots to production: IDC now projects AI solution spending at roughly $307 billion in 2025, expanding toward ~$632 billion by 2028, while a broader Gartner lens pegs worldwide AI spend near $1.5 trillion in 2025. Different scopes, same direction: the wallet share is real and rising.
Unit economics are tilting decisively toward inference. Stanford’s 2025 AI Index reports that inference costs for GPT-3.5-class performance dropped over 280× between late 2022 and late 2024, a collapse driven by smaller, more efficient model architectures and optimized compute pipelines.
The same report notes hardware costs falling about 30% per year and energy efficiency improving roughly 40% annually, reinforcing the shift toward “serve-side” AI that runs cheaply and ubiquitously inside software stacks. The economic effect is simple: as the marginal cost of inference plummets, usage scales exponentially, and revenue increasingly accrues to firms pricing by tokens, requests, or latency guarantees rather than static seat licenses.
Two real-world constraints now shape the cycle’s leaders. First is power. The IEA projects global data-center electricity consumption more than doubling by 2030 to ~945 TWh, with AI the largest incremental driver; in the U.S., the EIA already sees record power use in 2025–26 as data centers, AI, and electrification stack. Geography with fast interconnects, substation lead-times, and cheap megawatts will attract outsized build-outs; everyone else will ration. Second is memory bandwidth. HBM supply is tight and strategically controlled: SK hynix led Q2 2025 share (~62%), Micron ~21%, Samsung ~17%, and industry expectations point to a ~$100 billion HBM market by 2030 as models demand wider pipes and better packaging yields. These choke points tend to accrue pricing power and margin to whoever can secure capacity and deliver yield.
Netting it out: the fastest-growing corner of “AI” is not a product category but a flywheel, capex → capacity → tokens served → software attach → more capex. 2025’s tell is that supply-side constraints (power, HBM, advanced packaging) and serve-side economics (inference cost curves, latency guarantees) now explain more of the variance in growth than model-benchmark leapfrogging alone.
For investors, that argues for selection grounded in constraint-aware exposure (power, memory bandwidth, efficient networking) and in real adoption telemetry (usage-linked revenue, contract wins, workload migration), not slideware. The secular uptrend is intact; the edge lies in underwriting where tokens and watts convert to dollars soonest.
Source: unsplash
Methodology
For our list of the fastest-growing AI stocks to invest in now, we picked pure-play AI stocks and/or AI-adjacent stocks that had the highest year-over-year revenue growth and ranked them as such. We sourced the growth numbers from stockanalysis.com. We have also mentioned the number of hedge funds holding stake in these stocks as of Q2, 2025.
Some of these stocks may have negative EPS, but that’s common in high-growth tech where scale comes first. These firms burn cash on R&D and expansion, betting that today’s losses fuel tomorrow’s dominance and operating leverage.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
10. Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 23%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 50
Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) is one of the fastest-growing AI stocks to invest in now. On October 9, Citi’s Tyler Radke maintained Neutral on Confluent and raised the 12-month price target to $25 (from $20).
On September 30, Wells Fargo initiated coverage at Overweight with a $24 target under analyst Ryan Macwilliams. In press summaries of the initiation, Wells Fargo characterized Confluent as an “underappreciated AI beneficiary” and argued that DIY Kafka-based builds are often overstated as a cheaper alternative at scale.
Confluent, Inc. (NASDAQ:CFLT) was founded in 2014 by the original creators of Apache Kafka: Jay Kreps, Jun Rao, and Neha Narkhede, and provides a managed data-streaming platform (Confluent Cloud/Platform) widely used to move and process real-time event data that underpins analytics and AI workloads.
9. SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 25%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S) is one of the fastest-growing AI stocks to invest in now. In recent weeks, three major analysts issued fresh ratings on the company, each offering a different shade of market conviction. On October 3, 2025, Shaul Eyal of TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating with a $24.00 price target, pointing to SentinelOne’s expanding growth potential and strategic positioning in AI‑driven cybersecurity.
Earlier, on September 16, Fatima Boolani of Citi reiterated a Hold rating, raising her price target from $19 to $20. Her cautious tone suggests some concern around competitive dynamics and near-term volatility.
More decisively bullish was Trevor Walsh of JMP Securities, who on September 9, 2025, maintained a Market Outperform rating with a $29.00 price target. His rating followed SentinelOne’s strong Q2 FY2026 earnings, where revenue hit $242.2 million and Annual Recurring Revenue crossed the $1 billion mark.
Founded in 2013, SentinelOne, Inc. (NYSE:S) uses behavioral AI to autonomously detect and neutralize threats across cloud, identity, and endpoint layers. It continues to expand its security stack through focused acquisitions and platform development.
8. Gitlab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 29%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 47
GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB) is one of the fastest-growing AI stocks to invest in now. On September 30, 2025, Wells Fargo initiated coverage of GitLab with an Equal Weight rating and a $50.00 price target.
The firm pointed to uncertainty around GitLab’s go-to-market transition, highlighted tougher year-over-year pricing comparisons, and noted investor hesitation around near-term visibility. They added that GitLab may “continue to swim upmarket with its Ultimate product among existing enterprise customers,” while also warning that the rise of agentic coding tools may complicate how DevOps investors evaluate value in a shifting software landscape.
Just days later, on October 6, Morgan Stanley maintained an Overweight rating and raised its price target from $56 to $60, reaffirming confidence in GitLab’s long-term positioning.
Founded in 2014, GitLab Inc. (NASDAQ:GTLB) offers an all-in-one software delivery platform spanning source control, CI/CD, and application security, designed to reduce fragmentation across developer workflows. The company is a fast-expanding DevSecOps platform increasingly integrating AI capabilities across its toolchain.
7. Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 39%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 78
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) is one of the fastest-growing AI stocks to invest in now. OneMedNet officially announced on October 6, 2025 that it had selected Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR) to enhance its offerings in healthcare AI and real-world data analytics, linking its provider network with Palantir’s platform.
The companies say the collaboration will integrate Palantir’s AIP (Artificial Intelligence Platform) into OneMedNet’s infrastructure, with the goal of accelerating insights, cohort building, and analytic delivery. Palantir’s AIP is a real product line. It’s designed to connect generative AI and operations in regulated or high-stakes environments.
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:PLTR), headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is building software platforms for data integration, modeling, and decision support across government and commercial domains. Its product suite includes AIP as well as platforms like Foundry, Gotham, and Apollo.
6. Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (NYSE:ZETA)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 40%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 34
Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (NYSE:ZETA) is one of the fastest‑growing AI stocks you can buy right now. On October 9, 2025, Truist bumped its price target to $36 (from $34), while holding firm on its Buy view, citing optimism that Zeta could outpace organic revenue, EBITDA, and free‑cash‑flow expectations over time. The upgrade follows Zeta’s investor day, where the company extended its growth targets and spotlighted its AI and GenUI innovations.
On the same day, Needham reiterated its Buy rating and affirmed a $25 target. Needham emphasized the strength of Zeta’s Q2 results: revenue rose 35.4% year over year, beating estimates, and EBITDA also topped forecasts. It also highlighted Zeta’s AI advances, especially the Athena conversational agent, as giving it a unique edge in a crowded martech landscape. At the levels the stock was trading at, Needham saw upside based on multiples of FY26 revenues and improvements in free cash flow over time.
Zeta Global Holdings Corp (NYSE:ZETA) runs an omnichannel cloud platform that delivers consumer intelligence and marketing automation software to enterprises. Its flagship tools, like Zeta Marketing Platform (ZMP) and its AI modules, help brands unify identity, predict intent, and deliver personalized engagement across email, social, web, video, and more.
5. Helport AI Limited (NASDAQ:HPAI)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 48%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 6
Helport AI Limited (NASDAQ:HPAI) is one of the fastest‑growing AI stocks to watch. On October 8, 2025, it announced an expanded partnership with Atome, the Southeast Asian BNPL (buy‑now, pay‑later) platform. Under this deal, Helport AI’s Philippines‑based teams have surged to the top of Atome’s performance rankings, accelerating from lower tiers to #1 status across spending and loan product portfolios.
The partnership began on May 19, 2025, when Helport deployed AI‑enabled support teams for two of Atome’s financial products. Over ten weeks, they onboarded 78 trained agents across eight program lines (card and cash repayment). One team climbed from #5 to #1 in a month, and by July, both teams were topping regional scorecards – evidence of the AI + BPO hybrid model gaining traction.
Helport AI (NASDAQ: HPAI) is a global enterprise software company offering Helport AI Assist, a real-time “co‑pilot” AI tool for customer contact professionals. It also combines AI with BPO services to support multilingual, 24/7 customer engagements. Its model emphasizes augmenting human agents rather than replacing them.
4. Datavault AI Inc. (NASDAQ:DVLT)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 148%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: N/A
Datavault AI Inc. (NASDAQ:DVLT) is one of the fastest‑growing AI stocks to watch. On October 13, 2025, Datavault AI Inc. (NASDAQ: DVLT) signed a letter of intent to acquire NYIAX Inc., a blockchain-based media and data contract marketplace. The proposed acquisition would bring NYIAX’s smart contract and exchange infrastructure into Datavault’s AI ecosystem, strengthening its position in data monetization.
Datavault plans to integrate NYIAX’s tech into its Information Data Exchange (IDE®) platform and expand offerings with new initiatives, including the International NIL Exchange and the American Political Exchange. The goal is to build a unified architecture combining AI, blockchain, and automated contract trading. The transaction remains subject to Nasdaq approval, shareholder consent, and customary closing conditions, with completion targeted for Q1 2026.
Datavault AI Inc. (NASDAQ:DVLT) describes itself as a leader in secure data tokenization and Web 3.0 innovations, operating through two principal divisions: an Acoustic Science Division (with technologies like WiSA®, ADIO®, Sumerian®) and a Data Science Division delivering solutions in high‑performance computing for data valuation, monetization, digital twins, and more. Its platform serves industries such as sports & entertainment, biotech, fintech, real estate, energy, and healthcare.
3. Innodata Inc. (NASDAQ:INOD)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 152.5%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 16
Innodata Inc. (NASDAQ:INOD) is one of the fastest-growing AI stocks to invest in now. On October 10, 2025, BWS Financial maintained its Buy rating on Innodata (NASDAQ: INOD) and raised the price target to $110 from $74; the action is attributed to analyst Hamed Khorsand. The analyst views enterprise AI adoption as still early and highlights data quality as a key bottleneck for AI agents, areas where Innodata is positioned to benefit. Coverage also notes BWS referenced Innodata’s expansion toward enterprise and government customers and raised its 2026 estimates, consistent with its higher target.
Innodata recently promoted its GenAI Summit (Oct 9, 2025, San Francisco) aimed at senior enterprise leaders, aligning with the theme of accelerating production-grade GenAI deployments.
Innodata Inc. (NASDAQ:INOD) is a global data engineering company that provides solutions, platforms, and services for Generative AI/AI builders and adopters; the company explicitly positions itself at the intersection of data and AI. It operates internationally and focuses on helping large enterprises and technology companies advance AI initiatives.
2. Rezolve AI PLC (NASDAQ:RZLV)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 308%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 8
Rezolve AI PLC (NASDAQ:RZLV) is one of the fastest-growing AI stocks to invest in now. On October 9, 2025, Rezolve announced its acquisition of Subsquid (SQD), a decentralized data‑infrastructure platform. The press release states that Subsquid’s decentralized data lake and query engine make blockchain data “instantly searchable and usable for AI systems.” Rezolve also plans to acquire SQD tokens equivalent to at least 1% of its annual revenues, subject to applicable laws and market conditions. They intend to rebrand the SQD token pending regulatory and exchange approvals.
On October 10, 2025, Rezolve confirmed the acquisitions of Subsquid and Smartpay closed for approximately $10 million in cash plus 1 million Rezolve shares at the time of closing (assuming no post‑closing payments). The company said these deals establish the core data and payment layers for its “Agentic Commerce” architecture, combining Subsquid as the data layer, Smartpay as the payments rail, and Rezolve’s own brainpowa LLM as the intelligence layer.
Rezolve AI PLC (NASDAQ:RZLV) is a firm that builds AI‑driven solutions for commerce. According to its investor communications, it provides proprietary technology for search, personalization, checkout, and omni‑channel engagement. It positions itself at the intersection of AI, commerce, and payments, seeking to unite data, intelligence, and transaction infrastructure under a unified stack.
1. CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV)
Year-over-Year Revenue Growth: 1,440%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 29
CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) is one of the fastest-growing AI stocks to invest in now. On October 8, 2025, CoreWeave announced the launch of Serverless RL, a fully managed reinforcement learning service intended to let developers train AI agents at scale without managing infrastructure. It’s the first publicly available joint offering from Weights & Biases and OpenPipe, built on CoreWeave’s AI cloud backbone.
The service scales across dozens of GPUs, requires only a Weights & Biases account / API key to use, and according to CoreWeave’s benchmarks offers ~1.4× faster training and ~40 % lower cost compared to local H100 setups.
They accomplish this by multiplexing runs across their cluster to maintain utilization and charging only for incremental tokens generated. CoreWeave says this removes the burden of provisioning VMs or bare metal, letting enterprises adopt reinforcement learning more broadly.
CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) is a US‑based AI cloud infrastructure company headquartered in Livingston, New Jersey. It provides GPU infrastructure, developer tooling, and compute services to AI labs and enterprises. In recent months, it has been acquiring OpenPipe (RL tools) and integrating with Weights & Biases to build toward a full AI stack.
While we acknowledge the potential of CRWV to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CRWV and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
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