Count 2025 as yet another year in which the AI investment theme has loomed large. That’s been to the benefit of market participants with exposure to AI-related equities and ETFs.
For example, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM) are both flirting with YTD gains of 20%. That’s due in part to the funds being known as among the prime AI proxies in ETF Land. On the other hand, plenty of artificial intelligence skeptics remain. Some opine that related spending hasn’t paid big dividends for adopters. Those skeptics also believe those expenditures aren’t sustainable over the long term.
Obviously, the respective price action of QQQ and QQQM paints a different picture. That picture indicates it’s been dangerous and foolish to wager against AI-intensive assets. Perhaps 2026 will bring more clarity on the artificial intelligence debate. Or maybe it’s already settled. Because in what could be positive for ETFs like QQQ and QQQM, some experts see AI as having momentum that’s not going to wane anytime soon.
AI Contributing to Economic Growth
As has been widely documented, it’s been a small cohort of big AI-related stocks that are driving broader market returns. Add to that, artificial intelligence is also becoming a key driver of economic growth.
“Fast forward to Q4 2025 and not only is AI driving market returns, but massive investment in it is boosting U.S. economic activity. Some estimates suggest it is already overtaking the U.S. consumer as the primary driver of growth, with no signs of slowing as spending intentions among the largest U.S. tech firms have been continuously revised upward,” according to BlackRock.
The asset manager points out the artificial intelligence investment opportunity set “is not static.” That’s relevant in discussing QQQ and QQQM, because the ETFs, though passively managed, offer an impressive level of flexibility. The funds are homes to plenty of AI enablers as well as hyper-scaler adopters. Those rosters position investors to capitalize on AI’s increasing intersections with sectors and industries outside of tech, including financial services, healthcare and industrials, among others. Still, the ETFs’ big tech exposure is likely to prove meaningful for AI-enthused investors.
“With AI development still in relatively early stages and advancing quickly, we see the technology sector well positioned for continued growth beyond the current leaders,” added BlackRock.
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