BlackRock sees shift in artificial intelligence trade. Where investors are putting their money now. (www.cnbc.com)

BlackRock says investors are rotating out of broad “Big Tech” allocations and into more granular AI-themed ETFs, a trend its U.S. head of equity ETFs Jay Jacobs highlighted on CNBC. He pointed to the iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF (BAI) as an example — it spans semiconductor manufacturers through companies building large language models and is heavy in electronic technology and tech services (over 85% of holdings, per FactSet). BAI fell roughly 5% alongside the Nasdaq on Friday but remains up about 36% since its Oct. 21 inception, illustrating both volatility and strong demand for pure-play AI exposure. The move isn’t limited to AI: Jacobs and Amplify CEO Christian Magoon also noted rising interest in blockchain and crypto infrastructure ETFs. BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), which tracks ether’s spot price, gained nearly 42% over the past 12 weeks, while Amplify’s actively managed BLOK (focused on blockchain infrastructure) is up about 89% year-over-year despite a similar one-day drop. Fund managers say regulatory developments — highlighted by the recent GENIUS Act stablecoin law — are boosting confidence. For the AI/ML community, these flows matter because more targeted capital can accelerate chip and model investment, support data/tokenization monetization use cases, and shift valuation dynamics across the AI stack.