Chamath Palihapitiya is one investor who has come to prominence in recent years. The venture capitalist is largely considered a pioneer in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) boom about five years ago.
Although Palihapitiya’s SPAC track record is modest, the billionaire is still considered an expert in the tech world by many of his peers. Earlier in his career, Palihapitiya held business development and operations roles at internet giants AOL and Facebook, which is now known as meta platform.
After making a fortune from his corporate job, Palihapitiya turned to Silicon Valley. Today, he manages a venture capital (VC) firm called Social Capital. Palihapitiya also co-hosts a popular podcast called All-In with Silicon Valley veterans Jason Calacanis, David Sacks and David Friedberg.
In a recent episode, the group revealed their predictions for the biggest business winners of 2026. Interestingly, Palihapitiya did not mention any stocks, startups or cryptocurrencies. Instead, he has his sights set on commodities markets.
Let’s take a deeper look at what Chamath believes are the best investment opportunities in the market this year, and explore whether this asset deserves a spot in your own portfolio.
Image source: Getty Images.
If you listen to financial news shows, you’ll find that most sell-side analysts are repeating the same idea for 2026: invest in very large companies.
company likes Microsoft, letter, Amazonand meta-platforms are just beginning to scratch the surface of how artificial intelligence (AI) fits into their ecosystems. This allows chip designers, e.g. NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcomand Micron Technology With the current infrastructure boom, buying is almost a given.
But whenever a new megatrend emerges, the smartest investors look beyond the obvious choices. Against this backdrop, people like Palihapitiya are thinking outside the usual box. More specifically, he’s thinking about the nuts and bolts needed to build a data center or design a graphics processing unit (GPU) from scratch.
So, without further ado, Palihapitiya’s big prediction for 2026 is investing in precious metals – specifically, he calls copper his top asset.
One of the biggest pain points with growing investments in AI is the power grid. A study by the Pew Research Center shows that data centers will consume 4% of the total electricity in the United States in 2024. By 2030, data center power consumption is expected to increase by more than 130% from current levels.
As AI workloads grow, training and inference protocols become more critical. GPU clusters within data centers will only continue to push the limits of electrical load. This paradigm is what makes copper so valuable.
Copper is a conductive material—it’s on every chip and server rack through which electricity passes. As hyperscalers continue to accelerate capital expenditures (capex), I expect more capital to be allocated to chip procurement and energy infrastructure in the coming years. In fact, we’ve already seen this happen.
AMZN Capital Expenditure (TTM) data is provided by YCharts. TTM = past 12 months.
A few weeks ago, Alphabet announced that it would acquire Intersect, a provider of efficient energy solutions for data centers, for $4.75 billion. Additionally, Amazon recently partnered with Rio Tinto Buying newly mined copper to help meet the power needs of Amazon Web Services data centers.
Given copper’s critical role in the expansion of artificial intelligence, coupled with the fact that it is a supply-constrained resource, it’s no surprise that Palihapitiya said the asset will go “absolutely parabolic.”
Investors can gain exposure to copper in a number of different ways. If you’re looking to supplement existing energy stocks in your portfolio with companies that specialize in copper mining, there are two blue-chip stocks to choose from. Freeport McMoran Corporation(NYSE: FCX) and Southern Copper (NYSE: SCCO).
If you prefer a more passive approach, you can invest in copper-themed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as iShares Copper and Metals Mining ETF (NASDAQ: ICOP) Might be a good way to get exposure to copper and adjacent raw materials.
Finally, if you want to track the spot price of copper, a good option is U.S. Copper Index Fund(NYSE: CPER).
Last year, the U.S. Copper Index Fund rose 30%, almost twice as much as the U.S. Copper Index Fund S&P 500 Index. While this means a sharp rise in copper prices in the short term, I think the longer-term view favors a buy.
A good strategy is to dollar-cost average, or buy at different price points over the long term. As the age of AI infrastructure continues to evolve, supplementing your existing stocks with alternative assets like copper should add a layer of diversification to your portfolio.
To me, copper, like mainstream AI stocks, is a shrewd mining opportunity and is poised to generate significant gains in the coming years.
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Adam Spatacco has worked at Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and Micron Technology and recommends the following options: long January 2026 Microsoft $395 calls and short January 2026 $405 Microsoft calls. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya says this is the best artificial intelligence (AI) investment in 2026 (hint: it’s not even a stock) Originally published by The Motley Fool
