Dan Ives launches fund targeting private AI companies

By Splitfeed EditorialLast updated Sep 30, 2026, 13:00 UTC

On September 29 and 30, 2026, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives made headlines for two related developments. First, he announced plans to debut a fund giving investors direct access to private companies operating in the AI sector, a move reported by CNBC on September 30. Second, in separate remarks covered by Yahoo Finance on September 29, Ives argued that Nvidia's next major strategic focus is physical AI, which he described as the company's next holy grail. He framed the broader AI buildout using the analogy of constructing the Las Vegas Strip in 1955, suggesting that the infrastructure phase of the AI boom remains early and that significant growth lies ahead.

The fund announcement matters because private AI companies have largely been inaccessible to ordinary investors, with gains accruing to venture capital firms and institutional players. A vehicle structured around private AI exposure would represent a meaningful shift in how retail or smaller institutional capital can participate in the sector. Ives's identification of physical AI as Nvidia's next frontier also carries weight given his long record of bullish calls on the chip maker. Physical AI, which encompasses robotics, autonomous systems, and AI embedded in the physical world, is an area where several large technology companies are competing, and Nvidia has been positioning its hardware and software platforms accordingly. What remains in dispute is whether the current investment environment justifies the scale of optimism Ives is expressing, and whether a fund built around private AI companies carries risks that the Las Vegas Strip analogy, which implies eventual payoff after a long buildout, tends to minimize.

Because no reactions from the Pro-AI, Anti-AI, or Middle Ground camps have been published yet, what each would typically argue can only be anticipated. Pro-AI voices would likely embrace both the fund and Ives's physical AI thesis as confirmation that the AI investment cycle has years of runway remaining. Anti-AI voices would probably raise concerns about retail investors taking on illiquidity risk in a speculative private market at what may be a peak of hype. Middle Ground observers would be expected to acknowledge the genuine opportunities in physical AI while questioning whether a new fund structured around private companies adequately accounts for valuation risk and the long timelines involved in turning infrastructure spending into profit.

The clearest thing to watch is the fund's formal debut, including its structure, fee terms, and which private companies it targets. Those details would allow a more grounded assessment of whether the vehicle delivers meaningful access or simply packages existing enthusiasm into a new product.