Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest is increasingly shifting its AI exposure away from application-layer software and toward the infrastructure required to power artificial intelligence at scale.
The pattern is visible across its actively managed ETFs, where recent buying has concentrated in Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), Cerebras Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CBRS), CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ:CRWV) and Cloudflare Inc (NYSE:NET), while positions in software and consumer-facing tech names such as Roblox Corp (NYSE:RBLX), Palantir Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:PLTR) and Snowflake Inc (NYSE:SNOW) have been trimmed.
Taken together, the trades suggest ARK is effectively assembling an AI "picks-and-shovels" portfolio spanning chips, cloud compute and network infrastructure — even if no single ETF is explicitly labeled as such.
Nvidia Anchors the Strategy
The most visible piece of the shift came Monday, when ARK bought Nvidia across five ETFs — ARK Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKK), ARK Blockchain & Fintech Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKF), ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (BATS:ARKQ), ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (BATS:ARKW) and ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKX).
The largest purchase was 101,356 shares through ARKK, worth roughly $22.8 million based on Nvidia’s $225.01 closing price. The repeated exposure across multiple funds underscores Nvidia’s role as a core holding in ARK’s AI thesis rather than a tactical trade.
But Nvidia is only the starting point.
Expanding Beyond a Single Chip Leader
ARK has recently broadened its exposure to alternative compute and infrastructure providers.
On Aug. 13, the firm bought 106,941 shares of Cerebras Systems, worth about $28 million across ARKK and ARKW. The purchase came after a post-earnings pullback in the stock.
Cerebras is notable because it represents a different approach to AI compute than Nvidia’s GPU dominance. The company recently raised its 2026 revenue guidance to $880 million–$890 million and expects revenue to more than triple by 2027, driven in part by expansion of its AI cloud business.
ARK has also been accumulating CoreWeave, the AI-focused cloud infrastructure provider, alongside Cloudflare, which operates at the network and edge-compute layer.
CoreWeave reported $2.58 billion in second-quarter revenue, up more than 100% year over year, and ended the quarter with a $104 billion backlog — a signal of sustained demand for AI compute capacity.
The result is a layered exposure across the AI stack: Nvidia and Cerebras for compute, CoreWeave for cloud infrastructure, and Cloudflare for network delivery.
A Strategy Aligned With ARK’s Own Research
The shift is not happening in isolation. It closely mirrors ARK’s published long-term research.
In its Big Ideas 2026 report, ARK argues that AI is triggering a multi-year infrastructure buildout, driven by surging data-center investment and the increasing specialization of compute hardware. The firm also projects Nvidia’s annual revenue could rise from $216 billion in 2025 to roughly $350 billion in 2026.
That framing makes recent trading activity look less like opportunistic stock picking and more like implementation of a defined thematic roadmap.
Software Out, Infrastructure In
The other side of the trade is equally important.
ARK has been reducing exposure to names such as Roblox, Palantir and Snowflake — companies more closely associated with AI applications, software platforms and data analytics.
Monday’s activity reinforced that trend, with ARK trimming 22,023 shares of Palantir worth roughly $3.8 million. The firm also sold 25,917 shares of AMD valued at about $13.1 million — not a software position, but a sign ARK is picking among chipmakers rather than buying compute across the board.
The signal is not necessarily a bearish view on AI software. Instead, it suggests ARK may see a more attractive risk-reward profile in the infrastructure layer that enables AI systems to scale.
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