While uncertainty is mounting about how the Iran war could disrupt the artificial intelligence industry's rapid growth trajectory, so far, there has not been a notable sell-off of big AI names. As a result, the industry's losses haven't outpaced the broader S&P 500's 4% year-to-date (YTD) loss.
In fact, despite external turbulence, new opportunities may be presenting themselves in the AI space. Specifically, a major investment by NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) of $2 billion each into two much smaller companies focused on photonics—Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ: LITE) and Coherent Inc. (NYSE: COHR)—could signal an emerging focus on this developing branch of AI-adjacent technology.
