NH-Amundi Asset Management on the 22nd held a "physical AI investment strategy briefing" and emphasized that as an era begins in which artificial intelligence (AI) is implemented in the real world, including manufacturing and logistics, selective investment in physical AI corporations has become important. It then presented five promising themes to watch in the physical AI value chain.
Choi Dong-geun, Head of Team for ETFs at NH-Amundi Asset Management, said, "Physical AI does not take a fixed form," and noted, "the humanoids and autonomous driving that come to mind are only the early stage of physical AI beginning to be realized in the real world."
It then selected ▲ energy ▲ optical communication infrastructure ▲ semiconductors ▲ AI models ▲ applications as the five promising themes for physical AI investment.
Choi, the Head of Team, analyzed that, due to the massive power demand required for AI computation, securing energy infrastructure itself has become AI competitiveness.
Optical communication infrastructure is drawing attention as data bandwidth is emerging as a new bottleneck with the expansion of real-time inference services. Choi, the Head of Team, said, "The importance of optical communication infrastructure, which serves as the road for data, has grown."
It also forecast that investment in semiconductors will continue. As hyperscalers' capital expenditures (CAPEX) continue to increase this year, it projected that the warmth will spread from memory to central processing units (CPUs) and analog semiconductors.
Choi added, "Nvidia's next-generation AI platform, the Vera Rubin platform, has adopted a high-voltage direct connection method for efficient power delivery, so power semiconductors also warrant attention."
In AI models, it noted that AI is evolving beyond answering questions into agents that judge and act on their own. Recently, OpenAI and Anthropic are rising, but AI corporations in the Chinese-speaking world are advancing to the point that they are assessed as approaching a similar level to these corporations, so they are worth watching.
It picked applications as the most noteworthy theme. It explained that smokestack corporations that have built moats based on high manufacturing prowess in areas such as hydraulic and fuel control systems, bearings, and precision control systems are being reborn as core component makers of essential hardware in the physical AI era.
On the market outlook, it analyzed that, as geopolitical risks intensify, AI has become the core of the hegemonic competition directly tied to national security, beyond a race in technology.
Choi, the Head of Team, said, "As the U.S.-China competition for technological hegemony intensifies, the two countries are building different AI infrastructure ecosystems and weaponizing raw materials and advanced technology materials," and noted, "AI core material corporations in Japan and Taiwan that possess irreplaceable fundamental technologies will be the practical beneficiaries in a multipolar era."