Cathie Wood's big ideas of 2025: The most underappreciated application of AI is health care

Summary

In this interview, Cathie Wood, CEO and CIO of Ark Invest, shares her insights on the future of technology in 2025. She highlights the ongoing AI revolution, the potential of Palantir’s software, and Tesla’s advancements in autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. Wood discusses the transformative power of AI, particularly in healthcare, and its potential to revolutionize drug discovery and disease cures. She also emphasizes the growing importance of sequencing technologies like Illumina in healthcare applications. Despite challenges, Wood remains bullish on disruptive technologies shaping the next decade.

Takeaways

• 😀 The AI movement is just beginning, with a focus on software and platforms like Palantir leading the way in the AI stack.
• 😀 Tesla's robotaxi is expected to become a major opportunity in the coming year, despite previous delays.
• 😀 Humanoid robots, especially those by Tesla, are moving faster than anticipated and are generating a lot of excitement.
• 😀 Despite underestimating Tesla's car sales in 2024, Ark Invest's forecasts for EV growth have been closer to the mark than many analysts.
• 😀 The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant disruption to forecasts, especially in areas related to EV and unit growth.
• 😀 Healthcare is seen as the most underappreciated application of AI, with AI poised to help cure diseases and revolutionize healthcare systems.
• 😀 AI's application in healthcare is expected to accelerate drug research, particularly in early-phase clinical trials, reducing failures and speeding up the time to market.
• 😀 Companies like Illumina, involved in sequencing technologies, are seen as key players in the intersection of AI and healthcare innovation.
• 😀 Recursion Pharmaceuticals' use of AI has dramatically increased the productivity of researchers in drug discovery, demonstrating the power of AI in healthcare.
• 😀 The ability to cure diseases using AI could increase the value of patents significantly, especially in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

Q & A

What is Cathie Wood's outlook on the AI movement in 2025?

Cathie Wood believes the AI movement has just begun and is still in its early stages, comparing it to the early days of the internet in the mid-90s. She sees massive potential for AI to dominate in the tech stack, particularly through platforms like Palantir.

What is Palantir's role in the AI space according to Cathie Wood?

Cathie Wood sees Palantir as a highly valuable software company that will dominate a significant part of the AI tech stack. Despite being an expensive stock, she believes there is no other company quite like it in the software space.

How does Cathie Wood view the role of Tesla in AI and robotics?

Wood highlights Tesla's significant involvement in both robo-taxis and humanoid robots, considering Tesla a leader in AI applications. While robo-taxis are expected this year, she is particularly excited about the humanoid robot development, which is advancing faster than anticipated.

What is Cathie Wood's perspective on the future of autonomous vehicles?

Cathie Wood expresses optimism about the future of Tesla's autonomous vehicles, especially its robotaxi services. Although the timeline has been longer than expected, she believes the opportunity is massive and that Tesla is on the verge of launching its robotaxi services.

Why did Cathie Wood's Tesla forecast miss the mark in 2024?

Wood attributes the discrepancy in her Tesla sales forecast to the unforeseen impact of COVID-19, which halted unit growth and disrupted expectations. However, she notes that her forecasts for electric vehicles were more accurate than most other analysts.

What does Cathie Wood see as the most underappreciated application of AI?

According to Wood, the most underappreciated application of AI is in healthcare. She believes AI will revolutionize the healthcare sector, especially in curing diseases, by leveraging vast amounts of biological data and sequencing technologies.

What is Cathie Wood's vision for AI in healthcare?

Wood envisions AI playing a crucial role in healthcare by speeding up drug research, improving sequencing technologies, and ultimately curing diseases. She believes this could significantly enhance the value of patents and transform the healthcare industry.

What role do sequencing technologies play in healthcare innovation?

Sequencing technologies, like those from Illumina and PacBio, are central to the AI revolution in healthcare. They are pivotal in sequencing cells and genetic data, which will be crucial for curing diseases and advancing medical research.

How has AI impacted drug research and development, according to Cathie Wood?

AI has drastically increased the efficiency of drug research by helping companies like Recursion Pharmaceuticals accelerate the number of hypotheses generated per researcher. In one year, AI-powered research led to a ten-fold increase in productivity, driving faster and more effective drug discovery.

What does Cathie Wood mean by the potential for curing diseases using AI?

Wood believes that AI will enable the curing of diseases by significantly improving the speed and success rate of drug research and development. As AI helps reduce the number of failures in drug trials and accelerates time to market, it will lead to more valuable patents and breakthroughs in healthcare.