The artificial intelligence (AI) investment space is facing a fresh reality check. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently called for a slower pace of frontier AI development to allow safety measures to catch up, while OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and other technology leaders have also raised concerns about the risks of advancing AI too quickly. The comments triggered a selloff in AI-related stocks, with NVIDIA shares falling 3.4% on Sept. 14.
The developments have intensified questions about the pace and economics of the massive AI infrastructure buildout. According to A.I. Capital Advisory report (July 2026 update), Amazon AMZN, Alphabet, Meta META, Microsoft, and Oracle will spend $775-800 billion on AI infrastructure collectively in 2026. While the recent market reaction does not indicate that AI demand has structurally weakened, it does highlight the need for investors to reassess how long the current pace of AI investment can be sustained and where the next phase of advanced computing, including quantum computing, could emerge.
Against this backdrop, we have picked two stocks, NVIDIA NVDA and Hewlett Packard HPE, with strong exposure to the convergence of AI, high-performance computing and quantum technologies, positioning them to benefit from the next phase of advanced computing.
AI-Quantum Convergence Offers a Longer-Term Angle
The debate is significant for investors because the next phase of advanced computing is unlikely to depend on a single technology. AI workloads increasingly require massive computing, networking and energy infrastructure, while quantum computing is developing toward specialized applications that conventional systems may struggle to address efficiently.
Quantum computers are also not expected to replace GPUs, CPUs or conventional data centers. Instead, emerging architectures are designed to combine quantum processors with classical computing, High-Performance Computing (HPC), networking and AI. This hybrid approach could become increasingly relevant as quantum technology moves from research toward commercial applications.
That creates a potentially important investment angle for the remainder of 2026 and beyond. If AI infrastructure spending moderates from its current extraordinary pace, companies positioned across multiple advanced-computing technologies may have an advantage over businesses dependent on a single AI spending cycle. At the same time, investors should recognize that practical, large-scale quantum commercialization remains a longer-term opportunity rather than an immediate replacement for AI.
NVIDIA Leads the AI-Quantum Convergence
NVIDIA is the clearest example of the convergence. On Sept. 14, the company expanded its open-source CUDA-Q platform with CUDA-Q Logical, an orchestration layer designed to develop and test applications for fault-tolerant quantum computers. NVIDIA says the platform can support applications including drug discovery, financial modeling and materials development.
The move extends NVIDIA’s accelerated-computing ecosystem into quantum computing while keeping GPUs and classical systems central to the architecture.
NVIDIA carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2027 earnings indicates an increase of 93.5% on full-year revenue growth of 88% over fiscal 2026.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
HPE Expands Hybrid Computing
Hewlett Packard provides another avenue into the emerging hybrid-computing ecosystem. The company is developing systems that combine quantum capabilities with HPC and advanced networking for applications including drug discovery, materials research and optimization.
HPE also has significant near-term AI infrastructure momentum. Its AI systems orders reached $2.4 billion, while total AI backlog was $7.6 billion.
Hewlett Packard too sports a Zacks Rank #1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2026 earnings indicates an increase of 35.9% on full-year revenue growth of 96.4% over fiscal 2025. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days
Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers “Most Likely for Early Price Pops.”
Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.9% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention.
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
5 Stocks Our Experts Predict Could Double In the Next Year
By submitting your email, you'll also get a free pivot & flow membership. A free daily market overview. You can unsubscribe at any time.
