iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF

BAI

Market cap $11.5B

With the AI landscape constantly shifting, investors may not feel confident selecting individual companies in the space to target. Fortunately, a selective investment in a handful of AI-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) can offer broad exposure to this fast-growing space, including everything from infrastructure to hardware, applications, and energy, all in just a few funds.

The first quarter of 2026 was the moment the market stopped treating technology as a monolith. Beneath the big tech selloff grabbing headlines, a violent dispersion has been bubbling beneath.

Most large cap growth ETFs hand you a market-cap-weighted slice of the same mega-cap names and call it a day.

The agentic AI wave is already impacting the portfolios of investors, with the “SaaSpocalypse” wiping out north of $1 trillion of value in a ridiculously narrow timespan.

The global artificial intelligence ecosystem is forecast to expand 25-fold during the next seven years. With so much money being plowed into AI development, the investment opportunities in this sector are still huge.

After a record $1.5 trillion year for the ETF industry in 2025, demand has not slowed down in January. Indeed, as of January 21, ETFs had already gathered $103 billion of new money.

AI is entering a long-term growth phase in 2026, with $527B in capex driving a broadening bull market in AI ETFs like AIQ.

AI stocks were some of the biggest winners in 2025, but that doesn't mean there isn't upside remaining. The next leg of the AI rally might come from stocks outside the "Magnificent Seven.

Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi, joined host Nate Geraci this week on ETF Prime to preview five key ETF stories to watch in 2026 following a record year that saw nearly $1.5 trillion in net inflows.

They say there's no rest for the weary and ETF investors are no exception. BlackRock U.S. head of equity ETFs Jay Jacobs tells CNBC's Dominic Chu on “ETF Edge” there are three key ETF themes to keep an eye out for in 2026: growth opportunities in the market, income sources, and finding diversification amid bouts of market volatility.