10 Top Publicly Traded AI Companies

Editor's note: This article is not investment or financial advice.

If you’re watching AI leaders — such as Sam Altman — get rich from AI innovation, you might be on the hunt for publicly traded AI companies that can help you go from humble investor to not-so-humble investor. If you’re looking for a new play, though, you may want to go beyond the well-known, high-ticket players, such as Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOG), Meta (META) and Amazon (AMZN). Buying in at that level is expensive.

Backbone technologies, such as NVIDIA (NVDA), Arm Holdings (ARM) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) — companies that build the chip infrastructure AI is built on — are also currently too rich for most people’s blood.

Dig deeper, though, and you’ll find AI companies in data management, business solutions, compute power and networking that are worth taking a hard look at.

Here are some of the top publicly traded companies in the AI market:

1. Super Micro Computer (SMCI)

AI needs massive computing power. And as the use of artificial intelligence proliferates and humans come to rely on it more, AI will grow even hungrier for more, faster and more reliable processing power. Supermicro’s infrastructure is here for that. The company builds high-performance servers that are AI-workload optimized. And the company’s AI-ready infrastructure solutions can speed up AI deployments or provide an AI with the computing speed and power it needs to learn and train.

2. Palantir Technologies (PLTR)

As massive stores of data meet AI, opportunity abounds. Big data needs intelligent tools to parse it. Specializing in AI-driven big data analytics, Palantir Technologies’ Gotham, Apollo and Foundry projects are used by big names, such as the USIC and U.S. Department of Defense to tap into massive data stores to solve some of the world’s hardest problems. These data analytics platforms have uncovered fraud, unraveled human trafficking rings, found exploited children and solved complex financial crimes. The company is led by an all-star tech cast, including Peter Thiel, and was named after the magical “seeing stones” in “The Lord of the Rings.”

3. Symbotic (SYM)

This robotic technology platform uses AI to move goods through the supply chain. Big retailers, such as Target, Albertsons and Walmart, as well as wholesalers, apparel companies and consumer packaged goods companies rely on Symbotic’s AI-powered warehouse systems, robots and technologies to move goods around warehouses and then through the world to their destination. As we all learned recently, the supply chain is important to our survival.

4. SoundHound AI (SOUN)

Have you noticed artificially intelligent voices coming from everything from your dishwasher to your restaurant reservation system? Soundhound AI’s voice AI solutions answer the phones at restaurants, take orders at drive-thru fast-food lanes, staff the phones at contact centers and help hotel guests get everything from room service to pillows. They automate order taking, answer questions and route calls. They’re also the voices you hear coming out of appliances and other smart devices. They can speak, recognize speech and convert speech to meaning and action in real-time. Their voices are embedded, for example, into Hondas, Square, Qualcomm chips and Kias.

5. CrowdStrike (CRWD)

In a world where hackers are increasingly using AI to automate their attacks on networks, CrowdStrike is fighting back with AI that can automate the work of cloud security, identity threat detection, threat intelligence and exposure management. The AI can create generative AI workflows for cybersecurity and IT teams, leveling the playing field against attackers. CrowdStrike tools are used by state governments, health care providers and the federal government, including the Department of Defense.

See more: 10 Top AI Companies Defining the Market

6. Synopsys (SNPS)

Sunnyvale, California-based Synopsys was founded way back in 1986. Today, it designs and delivers silicon, which enables AI tools and services, to the semiconductor design and manufacturing industry. Its silicon is used in autonomous machines, data centers and “billions” of other smart technologies. Synopsys is working with NVIDIA to accelerate chip design using AI and accelerated computing.

7. Arista Networks (ANET)

Arista Networks, based in Santa Clara, California, designs and sells multilayer network switches that use AI to maximize the performance of networks. Arista’s networking tools are also used by AI developers to power their AI. Because when you’re working with huge data and massive computing power, you need a network that can keep up. Arista’s tools are networking for AI. They are also AI for networking.

8. UiPath (PATH)

One big promise of AI is that it will do tedious work while we humans focus on ideas and big-picture decisions. That requires specific tools, though. UiPath makes tools that allow businesses to automate their processes, freeing people from tasks. The company’s robotic process automation (RPA) tools are already industry leaders. The company now also offers a business automation platform that takes that idea even further. These AI-powered automations are used in industries such as finance, health care, manufacturing and insurance.

9. Palo Alto Networks (PANW)

Cybersecurity is a big problem for companies and solving that problem is a big business. This is one area where the speed, intelligence and 24/7 attention of AI is desperately needed. Palo Alto Networks has been using machine learning (ML) and AI in its security technologies for over a decade. The company’s tools are infused with AI already, and it is dedicated to innovating around AI for automating processes, forecasting what may happen and predicting what action IT pros will need to take.

10. C3.ai (AI)

If you’ve asked ChatGPT – or any large language model (LLM) AI – a question, you know the answers can sometimes be strange, wrong or weird. That’s no good if you want to use an AI to make smart business decisions. C3.ai is a generative AI application development platform designed for business. It's designed to provide enterprise users with consistent answers to their business questions. Its intelligent tools do this by accessing the company’s data — not an LLM — to deliver these answers. The tools have uses for manufacturing, utilities, financial services, health care and government. And they’re currently in use at organizations such as Shell, the U.S. Air Force, Koch and Con Edison.

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