BlackRock says the AI trade is getting crowded

The AI party is still going — just with a new guest list

BlackRock’s latest note says the AI trade isn’t dead. It’s just less obvious, more crowded, and a little less “buy the shiny thing and pray.” The firm argues equity markets are becoming more selective around AI exposure, which is a polite way of saying the easy money in the obvious names may be getting harder to find.

Meet HALO: the anti-drama trade

BlackRock’s answer is what it calls HALO — short for Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence. Translation: businesses with real-world infrastructure that can’t be copied by a chatbot or vaporized by the next software update.

Think:

• power plants
• pipelines
• electric grids
• other chunky, unsexy assets that keep the economy humming

These companies may not get the same Reddit-fueled love as Nvidia or Tesla, but they’ve got something the hype crowd sometimes forgets: staying power.

Why Duke Energy suddenly looks a little cooler

BlackRock points to Duke Energy as a case study in how “old economy” assets can become AI-adjacent without trying to cosplay as a tech company. As data centers multiply, the AI buildout needs more electricity, better grid management, and a whole lot of boring-but-critical infrastructure.

BlackRock cited company figures showing Duke’s AI tools helped avoid more than 280,000 outages and save over 300,000 outage hours. That’s not the kind of stat that makes your eyes widen on a conference stage, but it absolutely matters if you care about dependable cash flow and utility demand.

The bigger investor takeaway

This isn’t BlackRock saying, “sell all your AI winners and become a pipeline maximalist.” It’s saying the trade is maturing. If the first wave of AI investing was about owning the builders, the next wave may be about owning the stuff that keeps the machines fed, cooled, and powered.

So yes, the hype train is still running. It just may have picked up a few heavy, low-drama freight cars along the way. Big picture: if AI is the engine, infrastructure might be the gas station, the power plant, and the road all at once.