Which AI themes should investors be targeting in 2026?

Many investors look to capture emerging markets and trends. Right now, one such sector is artificial intelligence (AI). 

Rapid innovation in the sector is disrupting the ways we live and work and piquing investor interest in artificial intelligence.

However, it can be difficult to sift through the noise, headlines and misinformation. This is especially relevant when an industry is rapidly developing and changing. 

A new report from Global X has shed light on how to stay ahead of the curve. 

The rapidly evolving world of AI 

In the latest report from Global X, the ETF provider reinforced the difficulty of pinpointing where within a theme or industry to allocate resources. 

Global X said this could be upstream or downstream, in small-cap disruptors or established players, or emerging markets.

The challenge lies in cutting through the noise to distinguish transformative developments from those that may be overhyped.

The DISRUPT framework

Global X has developed an investment strategy to help pinpoint opportunities in the AI sector. 

According to Global X, the DISRUPT Framework evaluates seven key criteria: disruption, innovation, scalability, resilience, uptake, potential, and transformation. 

Together, these elements combine to create a detailed picture of a specific innovation. It also offers insights into lifecycle stage, market dynamics, and optimal investment opportunities.

The opportunity – AI and Automobiles 

The DISRUPT framework shows that AI in Auto is highly advanced in disruption and innovation. This is supported by strong adoption, improving scalability, and meaningful long-term economic potential. 

The technology is already embedded across global OEMs and EV makers, while partnerships between chip suppliers, cloud providers, and autonomy developers continue to deepen. 

AI now influences how cars are designed, manufactured, operated, and updated, with applications spanning smart cockpits, fleet optimisation, predictive maintenance, and assisted driving.

According to Global X, this creates a broad and investable opportunity set across the automotive value chain. 

The ETF provider said the strongest opportunities lie in the midstream where AI capability is already central to model design and production. 

Semiconductors, sensors, vehicle compute, simulation engines, and software stacks are scaling across the US and China in particular, with Korea and Japan strengthening through component and manufacturing leadership. 

These layers benefit from rising global AI penetration and tend to outperform downstream OEM exposure, which remains more sensitive to regulation, competition, and pricing.

How to gain exposure?

For investors wanting to gain exposure to these themes, there are targeted ASX ETFs that aim to track relevant companies. 

For broad exposure to AI companies, investors might consider the Global X Ai Infrastructure ETF (ASX: AINF).

It provides targeted exposure to this growing opportunity through a concentrated and equally weighted portfolio of companies across energy, materials and data infrastructure.

Another AI focussed ETF is the Global X Artificial Intelligence ETF (ASX: GXAI). 

It targets companies that potentially stand to benefit from the further development and utilisation of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in their products and services, as well as in companies that provide hardware facilitating the use of AI for the analysis of big data.

For exposure to the electric vehicle sector, investors may consider the BetaShares Electric Vehicles and Future Mobility ETF (ASX: DRIV). 

It provides exposure to a portfolio of global companies at the forefront of innovation in automotive technology.

The post Which AI themes should investors be targeting in 2026? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Bell has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.