We recently published a list of Top 9 Trending AI News Investors Probably Missed. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT) stands against other top trending AI news investors probably missed.

Battle lines on artificial intelligence supremacy and dominance have been drawn. Fresh from touting the success of DeepSeek on the development of cost-effective AI models, China has made it clear it won’t sit back and play second fiddle to US dominance on AI innovations.

The country’s top economic officials are in the process of setting up a state-backed fund that will support technological innovation focusing on advanced technology like AI. According to Zheng Shanjie, head of China’s state economic planner, the state venture capital fund could attract $138 billion in capital over the next 20 years.

Most of the funding comes from local governments and the private sector and will accelerate the development of high-end chips. The capital injection should also support China’s ambitions for artificial intelligence, robotics, and quantum computing. China has already made significant progress in the rapid growth of microchips and AI large language models as it looks for ways to bypass US export control regulations.

“Scenes once only seen in science fiction are now becoming reality. We are steadily moving toward the global frontiers of technology and innovation,” Zheng said. “This proves that the suppression and blockade attempt by certain forces only serve to accelerate our drive for independent innovation,” he added in an apparent reference to the United States.

When DeepSeek unveiled its R1 large language model in January, it caused a stir in the world’s stock markets. However, it could almost match its competitors’ capabilities, including OpenAI’s GPT-4. This took observers aback since the US has been trying for years to limit China’s access to high-power AI chips due to national security concerns.

Even as China ramps up AI investments, the US is not sitting back and letting its dominance fizzle in thin air. The US, under President Donald Trump, continues to provide a friendly investment environment to attract investment from the public and private sectors. Trump and tech companies have collaborated more and more since his election in November of last year, with Trump keen to demonstrate that his administration is more business-friendly than Joe Biden’s.

The $500 billion Stargate project for enhancing data center capacity underscores how the US remains a top investment destination amid the AI boom.

“This infrastructure will secure American leadership in AI, create hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and generate massive economic benefits for the entire world. This project will not only support the re-industrialization of the United States but also provide a strategic capability to protect the national security of America and its allies,” OpenAI said in a statement about the Stargate Project.

In Texas, the first data centre for the Stargate project is in the pipeline. OpenAI maintains in a policy white paper that investments in US AI infrastructure can guarantee that US AI tools outperform Chinese technology and generate new economic opportunities and jobs. As a result, the parent company of ChatGPT is pleading with the US government to develop a fundamental plan to guarantee that infrastructure spending maximizes access to AI and benefits the greatest number of people. According to the brief, $175 billion in global funds are waiting to be invested in AI projects.

Our Methodology

For this article, we selected AI stocks by going through news articles, stock analysis, and press releases. These stocks are also popular among hedge funds in Q4 2024.

Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).

A data analyst wearing virtual reality goggles while analyzing on-board telematics.

Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 40

Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT) is a software infrastructure company that offers solutions that connect physical operations data to its connected operations cloud. It also uses AI to enhance its platform, offering features like AI Dash Cams for video-based safety, AI-powered vehicle telematics, and AI-driven insights to improve fleet management. On March 6, the company delivered impressive results for its fiscal 2025, characterized by a 33% increase in annual recurring revenue to $1.46 billion in its fourth quarter.

Samsara Inc. (NYSE:IOT) also added 14 new customers with $1M plus in annual recurring revenue and a quarterly record of 203 customers with $100K+ ARR. Samsara’s data set grew significantly in FY25 due to its increased customer base and multi-product adoption. More than 14T data points were processed, representing more than 50% YoY growth and more than 120B API calls, representing more than 50% YoY growth.

“Our customers partner with us because we provide actionable insights that help them operate smarter,” said Sanjit Biswas, CEO and Co-Founder at Samsara. “Samsara is building one of the world’s largest operational data sets and combining it with AI will transform our customers’ operations in the next decade.”

Overall, IOT ranks 3rd on our list of top trending AI news investors probably missed. While we acknowledge the potential of IOT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than IOT but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.