Ackman’s Bets: AI and the Usual Suspects

So, Bill Ackman. A man who makes pronouncements from a great height, usually involving other people’s money. He’s put nearly 40% of his hedge fund into three companies that believe they’re solving problems we didn’t know we had. Artificial intelligence, they call it. Sounds important. It probably isn’t, not in the grand scheme. But here we are.

1. Alphabet – 14.4%

Alphabet. Google, if you’re not keeping score. They won a lawsuit, you know. The government said they were a monopoly. The judge agreed, sort of. Didn’t really do anything about it. So it goes. They also have this “Gemini” thing, an AI that’s supposed to be clever. It does search results. People still use Google. Shocking.

They make their own computer chips, too. Less reliant on other companies. Smart. Everything is about control, isn’t it? The stock price is high. Twenty-eight times earnings. A bit rich, wouldn’t you say? They’re betting on more growth. YouTube, some kind of self-driving car project. It’s all very ambitious. And expensive.

2. Amazon – 14%

Amazon. They sell things. A lot of things. And they have this “Amazon Web Services” thing, which is even more mysterious. They’re spending a fortune on data centers. Two hundred billion dollars. Just…two hundred billion. They say it’s for AI. Of course it is. They also claim to have these “category-defining franchises.” That’s what they call selling stuff and renting computer space. It’s a good racket, if you can get it.

They’re still relatively cheap, though. Compared to other things. Which isn’t saying much these days. They’ll need to prove this spending actually works. But that’s always the case, isn’t it? Hope is a powerful thing. And expensive.

3. Meta Platforms – 11%

Meta. Formerly Facebook. They’re spending between one hundred fifteen and one hundred thirty-five billion dollars on AI. Just…numbers. They say it’ll make their ads better. More relevant. More…invasive. It’s all the same, really. They had a good year. Twenty-two percent revenue growth. A little bit of magic. Or just a lot of data.

They’re trading at twenty-one times earnings. Not bad, for an AI company. But they’ll need to show some returns on all that spending. Investors like to see things. Actual, tangible things. Not just promises and algorithms. It’s a simple request, really. A simple, expensive request.

So, there you have it. Ackman’s bets. AI and the usual suspects. It’s all a bit much, isn’t it? A lot of money, a lot of hype, and a lot of uncertainty. But that’s the way things are. So it goes.

2026-02-24 18:22

1. Alphabet – 14.4%

2. Amazon – 14%

3. Meta Platforms – 11%

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