Tony Kim, Head of Global Technology at BlackRock, sees humanity at an unprecedented point in history: the “intelligent revolution”. The primary goal of the world's leading AI companies is currently to achieve General Artificial Intelligence (GAI). If successful, this would have a profound impact on the economy and society. It is possibly the technological revolution with the greatest transformation potential of all.
The path to GAI - AI levels and skills |
|
|---|---|
AI level |
AI skills |
Level 0 |
No AI |
Level 1 |
Chatbots (untrained human) |
Level 2 |
Reasoner (50% of an educated human) |
Level 3 |
Agents (90% of an educated human) |
Level 4 |
Innovators (99% of an educated human) |
Level 5 |
Superhuman GAI or ASI |
Source: BlackRock Fundamental Equities and Morris et al. (2024), November 2024. Note: The table shows the increasing AI intelligence levels and the extent to which AI can reach or surpass human intelligence. For illustrative purposes only.
The necessary infrastructure for the operation and development of AI includes not only data centers and specialized hardware, but also energy supply and data processing capacities. Annual spending on AI infrastructure is expected to rise from $25.8 billion in 2022 to $195 billion by 2027. This corresponds to an annual growth rate of 60 %.1 These investments are crucial to ensure the performance and scalability of AI systems. There is no guarantee that the forecasts will materialize.
AI will have a profound impact on the economy and society. In the short term, AI could bring moderate productivity gains through more efficient work processes. In the longer term, AI has the potential to be innovative itself and drive a transformation that could expand knowledge and production capacities and boost growth.2
Despite the opportunities, there are also challenges and risks. These include the high costs of setting up the infrastructure, the energy requirements and the need to clarify ethical and regulatory issues relating to areas of AI application. Companies must ensure that they use the technology responsibly to ensure long-term success.
Investing in companies that play a central role in the development and application of AI technologies could be one way to benefit from the AI revolution. These include companies that develop AI software, build data centers or manufacture specialized hardware. Another approach is to invest in different sectors that could benefit from AI.
1 Gartner: “Forecast Analysis: AI Software Market by Vertical Industry, 2023-2027”, March 27, 2024. Forward-looking estimates may not materialize. Line chart showing the growth in complexity of AI models over time based on the number of parameters. It includes models such as GPT, GPT-2, GPT-3 and GPT-4 and refers to future models that are expected to use trillions of parameters.
2 BlackRock Fundamental Equities, November 30, 2024.
Retail: This article is for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Investing in funds and ETFs involves risk and the value of investments can fall as well as rise. Investors should obtain comprehensive information and, if necessary, professional advice before investing.
Investment risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and is not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the only factor considered when selecting a product or strategy.
Changes in exchange rates between currencies may cause the value of investments to fall or rise. For funds with higher volatility, fluctuations may be particularly pronounced and the value of an investment may fall suddenly and significantly. The level and basis of taxation may change from time to time and will depend on personal circumstances.
This document is marketing material.
In the European Economic Area (EEA): issued by BlackRock (Netherlands) B.V., a company authorized and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. Registered office: Amstelplein 1, 1096 HA, Amsterdam, Tel: +31(0)-20-549-5200, Trade Register No. 17068311. For your protection, telephone calls are usually recorded.
The results of these analyses are only published on certain occasions. The views expressed do not constitute investment advice or advice of any other kind and are subject to change. They do not necessarily reflect the views of any company or part of a company within the BlackRock Group and no representation is made as to their accuracy.
All analysis contained herein has been prepared by BlackRock and may be used at its discretion.
This document is for information purposes only. It does not constitute an offer or solicitation to invest in any BlackRock fund and has not been prepared in connection with any such offer.
© 2025 BlackRock, Inc. all rights reserved. BLACKROCK, iSHARES and BLACKROCK SOLUTIONS are trademarks of BlackRock, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Risk Disclaimer – There are risks associated with investing. The value of your investment may fall or rise. Losses of the capital invested may occur. Past performance, simulations or forecasts are not a reliable indicator of future performance. We do not provide investment, legal and/or tax advice. Should this website contain information on the capital market, financial instruments and/or other topics relevant to investment, this information is intended solely as a general explanation of the investment services provided by companies in our group. Please also read our risk information and terms of use.
