24.03 Liontrust Global Innovation Report - The Rise of AI 04.24 - Flipbook - Page 22
How we invest in AI: the new technology stack
We view investing in AI through the lens of a four-tiered technology stack, which is spurring
new investment across the technology sector.
At the base of this stack is the infrastructure layer, consisting of
semiconductors and associated hardware and software necessary
for AI computing, such as accelerated processors, memory, storage,
networking and packaging, and the sophisticated machinery and
software required to design and produce it all. Nvidia’s chips and
software are key to this layer, but so too are the offerings of numerous
other companies such as Broadcom, Cadence, and ASML.
On top of this infrastructure sits the AI model layer. This includes
foundational Large Language Models (LLMs) as well as domainspecific models that are tailored to particular industries or use
cases such as pharmaceuticals. LLMs are currently led by the large
technology companies such as Google, Meta and Microsoft as
well as newer players like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Next up are AI engineering tools that enable enterprises across the
whole economy to operationalise LLMs to harness AI. Companies
such as ServiceNow, which is helping businesses deploy generative
AI across their operations, are particularly well positioned, as are
companies like Snowflake and MongoDB which help businesses
organise and use their data for AI-driven tasks.
Finally, at the top of the stack is the applications layer, where AI
meets its customers to drive prices down and up the quality of
products and services, both for business-to-business and businessto-consumer. This is currently led by the likes of Spotify and Netflix
through recommender systems, though it is also underpinning a
range of other leading consumer-facing businesses such as Uber
and Airbnb.
A I T E C H N O L O G Y S TA C K L AY E R S
SOFTWARE USING AI
Apps for specific tasks/functions
TOOLS TO DEPLOY AI
Includes model and data utilities
AI FOUNDATION MODELS
LLMs + industry-specific models
CORE AI COMPONENTS
Compute, Network, Storage
Source: Liontrust, Gartner 2023. All use of company logos, images or trademarks are for reference purposes only
22 - The rise of AI: Technology and Innovation Report
