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The Motley Fool has released a new 2026 AI Investor Outlook Report.
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It finds that 62% of Americans believe companies investing heavily in AI will produce strong long-term returns.
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Younger investors are driving the confidence in AI investment, and many already own AI stocks.
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As artificial intelligence (AI) stocks soared higher and higher throughout 2025, more and more voices sounded warnings of an “AI bubble” that was about to pop. Concerns about the valuation of some of the biggest AI players like Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) likely contributed to November’s market slump.
But according to new research by The Motley Fool, a majority of Americans aren’t buying it. In fact, over 60% of them believe that AI stocks will instead deliver strong long-term returns. The reason why may surprise you.
According to The Motley Fool’s 2026 AI Investor Outlook Report, which was just released, it’s younger investors who are most confident in AI companies’ ability to produce strong, long-term returns, with 67% of Gen Z investors and 63% of Millennial investors optimistic about the sector’s potential. Meanwhile, older investors remain far more skeptical, with just 50% expressing confidence that the AI investments of companies investing heavily in the technology will pay off.
As you’d expect, the most confident AI investors have, largely, already put their money where their mouths are, with 93% of Americans who already own AI stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) expressing confidence in the technology’s ability to produce long-term returns.
But is this just a case of younger investors being attracted to the shiny new technology, regardless of its merits? Motley Fool AI Stock Analyst Asit Sharma, CPA, doesn’t think so. Here’s what he thinks is really going on.
Many younger Americans have already had the opportunity to create content using AI technology tools, either at work or on social media, and so they’ve seen firsthand the game-changing potential of the technology, and how much it’s improved over the past few years. Sharma believes that younger investors have recognized AI’s ability to fundamentally alter the way businesses and the overall economy function.
“As reasoning models become more powerful, the companies that benefit from AI-driven optimization will produce superior returns on capital, and the businesses that support this infrastructure will thrive from sustained demand,” Sharma says in the report.
