Maverick Capital chiefs say AI trade is entering a tougher phase
Ben Silver and David Tykocinski see risk in AI stocks, but say the next opportunities may sit in enterprise tech and life science tools.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
Maverick Capital’s public-fund co-chief investment officers say the AI stock trade is moving into a more difficult and selective stage. Speaking on Goldman Sachs’ Exchanges: Great Investors podcast, David Tykocinski warned that markets could hit an “air pocket” if AI infrastructure spending keeps rising before companies can show clear productivity gains.
The warning matters for investors who have benefited from a multiyear rally tied to Nvidia, data centers and the wider AI buildout. Tykocinski and co-CIO Ben Silver said they remain believers in AI, but they see the next phase as less straightforward than the early boom in chips and infrastructure.
Maverick Capital was founded in 1993 by Lee Ainslie, one of the investors known as “Tiger Cubs” after training under Tiger Management founder Julian Robertson. Fortune reported that Ainslie chose Silver and Tykocinski to lead Maverick’s public funds, with both elevated to co-CIO roles in 2021.
Bloomberg reported in August 2025 that Maverick was raising money for a new semiconductor fund after strong performance since 2021. Bloomberg said the firm’s oldest hedge fund gained more than 70% cumulatively from the start of 2021 through the first half of 2025, ahead of Ainslie’s Tiger Cub peers.
AI value may move closer to users
Tykocinski told Goldman Sachs that the AI cycle reversed a pattern that had defined technology investing for much of the 2000s and 2010s. In that earlier period, he said, much of the value sat with software and internet companies closest to users; in the AI boom, investors instead rewarded hardware, data centers and power-related businesses.
He said the best opportunities have followed production constraints. Early demand showed up in finished products such as GPUs, then bottlenecks moved to fabrication, chipmaking tools and specialized materials, according to his comments on the podcast.
Tykocinski now expects that movement to shift back toward the customer side of the technology chain. He told Goldman Sachs that AI agents are being connected to existing enterprise systems rather than replacing entire corporate technology stacks, which could increase the importance of CPUs, databases and edge computing.
Health care selloff creates another target
Silver, who previously ran Maverick’s health care investments, said on the podcast that money has been leaving health care and moving into AI. He said that has created opportunities in life science tools, a group of companies that sell equipment and supplies used in drug discovery and manufacturing.
Silver pointed to two forces behind the idea. He said efforts to move pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the U.S., driven by trade policy and national security concerns, could require new domestic production capacity, with spending showing up in company results within three to six months.
He also said AI could increase the number of drugs discovered, which would create more demand for manufacturing and consumables. Silver added that three to five large consolidators in the sector have capital to buy smaller companies, and that $5 billion-to-$10 billion businesses trading at lower valuations could attract buyers if fundamentals do not improve quickly.
China and policy remain key risks
Tykocinski said China is a central risk for AI-linked hardware and materials businesses. He told Goldman Sachs that areas such as lasers, optics, analog semiconductors and specialty materials can face commodification over time, unlike application-layer companies where intellectual property has often carried more value.
Silver cited broader policy risks, including the U.S. political system’s difficulty making long-term decisions when short-term incentives dominate. Both investors also said they are watching U.S.-China tensions and their effect on technology supply chains.
Despite those concerns, Silver and Tykocinski told Goldman Sachs they still see AI as a long-term investment theme. Their view is that the trade has not ended, but that investors will need deeper company-level research as the easiest gains fade.
This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.