In this article we present the list of Top 10 Blue Chip AI Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Cliff Asness.
Cliff Asness is one of Wall Street’s most respected hedge fund managers. The founder and managing principal of AQR Capital Management has often relied on various strategies to squeeze value in the equity markets. Right from relying on fundamental analysis, Asness has also etched his name by focusing on value and momentum strategies that have often generated solid returns.
AQR Capital Management has generated positive outcomes over the past three years, having recorded its best year in 2022, when it gained 43.5%. Its 16.8% gain in 2021, 18.4% in 2023 and 15.1% in 2024 affirm its status as the best-performing multi-stage hedge fund.
The hedge fund is increasingly deploying artificial intelligence to enhance its performance. The technology is used in the core parts of the investing process while helping combine and weigh the various investment factors. AI is also being used to speed up coding and create trading signals from text.
READ ALSO: Cathie Wood’s Top 12 AI Stock Picks in 2025 and 10 Best Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Ray Dalio.
“AI’s coming for me now. It turns out it’s annoyingly better than me. AI, to be honest, pushes us a little on the spectrum away from some of the traditional things we’ve talked about, and that was uncomfortable for me,” said Asness.
Even as Asness continues to integrate artificial intelligence into the overall investment strategy at AQR Capital Management, he remains wary that the markets have become less efficient over the past 35 years.
“One of my themes is that markets just don’t get efficient on their own. There are our tools, our institutions, our traditions, and ultimately markets are a voting mechanism. So anything we do to make that noisier is going to make markets less efficient,” Asness said.
In a less efficient market, rational value investors need to weather the ups and downs that come into being. Consequently, the AQR Capital Management chief believes rational investors prepared to stay in the game for the long term stand a better chance of navigating the less inefficient markets.
The longer an investor’s timeline, the better their capacity to endure the fluctuations of the market and benefit from its reduced efficiency, assuming they can weather elevated risk and potentially prolonged periods of discomfort. Several aspects can assist with this, such as not fixating on every single item in your portfolio, losing sight of the broader picture, and not believing that three to five-year trends are fixed.
Asness also advises investors to be wary of over-investing in private assets in an attempt to stabilize their returns. A consistent critic of private equity, Asness contends that firms which do not accurately assess assets against market value are obscuring the genuine level of risk investors are embracing. He expresses confusion as to why investors appear prepared to pay a premium for what he refers to as “volatility laundering,” arguing that by doing so, they are settling for diminished returns.
Cliff Asness of AQR Capital Management
Our Methodology
To make the list of 10 Blue Chip AI Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Cliff Asness, we analyzed AQR Capital Management Q4 2024 13F filing. We settled on the top blue chip companies with significant exposure to artificial intelligence. We then analyzed them on why they stand out as Billionaire Cliff Asness’ top stock picks. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on the value of AQR Capital Management equity stakes. Additionally, we have mentioned the broader hedge fund sentiment around each stock, as of Q4 2024.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with 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 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Top 10 Blue Chip AI Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Cliff Asness
10. Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE:ANET)
AQR Capital Management Equity Stakes: $336.17 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 78
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE:ANET) is a technology company that specializes in data-driven, client-to-cloud networking for large data centers, campuses, and routing environments. It also focuses on AI networking by developing platforms like Etherlink, which offers high-performance Ethernet systems. The company delivered impressive fourth quarter and full year 2024 results that underlined strong momentum in AI networking and cloud infrastructure.
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE:ANET) also logged a record $7 billion in revenue, up 19.5%, as net income increased to $2.9 billion or $2.27 a share compared to $2.19 billion or $1.73 a share delivered in 2023. The better-than-expected financial results came as Arista Networks experienced rapid AI workload growth, creating significant demand for specialized networking solutions.
Arista Networks Inc. (NYSE:ANET) has effectively diversified its revenue sources across several customer sectors and use cases while preserving strong ties with Microsoft and Meta. It is also expanding its value proposition and generating more steady revenue streams by developing a sizable software and subscription business. Arista has evolved from selling only hardware to generating higher-margin, recurring income streams that strengthen client relationships, as seen by the rise in software and subscription revenue.
9. Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE)
AQR Capital Management Equity Stakes: $334.69 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 117
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) is a software company that develops products for creative content, marketing, and document management, with a focus on enhancing user experience. The company is best known for iconic software like Photoshop and Illustrator. It is heavily integrating AI, particularly generative AI, into its products like Creative Cloud and Acrobat to enhance creativity, productivity, and user experience,
Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) has established itself as a world leader in software, including document management, marketing tools, and creative media. Consequently, its sales increased 11% year over year in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 as adjusted earnings per share (EPS) increased 13%. The momentum continued in the fiscal first quarter of 2025 as revenue increased by 10%, backed by better operating cash-flow generation.
The company’s AI-based stand-alone solutions and AI add-on products, such as its Firefly app and Acrobat AI Assistant, have already earned over $125 million in bookings. About 35% of monthly active Photoshop users are utilizing generative AI features, demonstrating how users are embracing AI features in Adobe’s current product lineup.
The management emphasized the tremendous demand for its AI products in markets including Document Cloud, Creative Cloud, and Digital Media. With an estimated adjusted EPS of $20.20 to $20.50 for 2025, Adobe Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE) aims for revenue growth of 8.3% to 9.5%, representing a 10.5% increase at the halfway point over the previous year.
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