UK investors back Big Tech’s AI spending but become choosier over tech giants – etoro research finds
- UK investors 2.5x more likely to be attracted than deterred by Big Tech’s huge AI spending
- AI enthusiasm remains strong, but investors become more selective within the Magnificent 7
- 53% already use or are open to using AI to pick or alter investments
Heavy investment in AI is enhancing Big Tech’s appeal among UK retail investors, even as expectations for AI-related stocks become more measured, according to the latest Retail Investor Beat from etoro. The research suggests investors remain convinced by AI’s long-term potential, but are becoming more selective about which companies they back.
The quarterly research, which surveyed 1,000 UK retail investors, found that 35% say the significant sums being invested in AI by the so-called Magnificent 7 (Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla) make them more likely to invest in the companies. Just 14% say the spending makes them less likely to invest, meaning around 2.5 times as many are attracted as deterred.
Enthusiasm is strongest among younger investors. More than half of Gen Z (52%) and millennials (52%) say the scale of AI investment makes them more likely to invest in the Magnificent 7, compared with 30% of Gen X and just 23% of baby boomers.
Commenting on the data, etoro’s Global Market Strategist Lale Akoner said: “The scale of AI spending by Big Tech is extraordinary, but these companies also have the balance sheets, distribution and enormous existing customer bases needed to turn new technology into products at scale. That helps explain why investors can see heavy spending as an opportunity rather than simply a cost. But the bigger the investment, the greater the pressure to demonstrate a return. Investors may still believe strongly in AI while becoming much less willing to give every company exposed to the theme the benefit of the doubt.”
Investors raise the bar for Big Tech
Investors appear to be becoming more discerning about individual Big Tech names. Nvidia is the only Magnificent 7 company where the proportion of UK investors saying they have invested or plan to invest more has held steady year-on-year, at 12%. The equivalent figure has fallen across each of the other six companies, including Microsoft, where it has dropped from 19% to 13%, Apple from 19% to 15%, and Amazon from 20% to 16%.
At the same time, expectations for AI-related stocks more broadly have cooled. Some 44% of UK retail investors expect AI-related stock prices to rise, down from 51% a year ago, while the proportion expecting them to decline has doubled from 9% to 18%.
Lale Akoner commented: “Investors are not abandoning the AI story; they are raising the standard of proof. The first phase rewarded companies for having an ambitious AI strategy, but the next will be shaped by execution: how intensively the technology is used, whether customers will pay for it and whether that demand can generate attractive returns. This means AI is becoming less of a rising tide for the whole technology sector and more of a test of each company’s business model. The gap between the eventual winners and losers could therefore become much wider.”
AI becomes part of the retail investment process
While UK retail investors are becoming more selective about investing in AI, they are increasingly comfortable investing with it. More than half (53%) already use or are open to using AI tools such as ChatGPT or AI agents to pick or alter investments.
Among those already using or open to using the technology, 41% say AI can save them time on research and 41% believe it is the future of investing. Almost three in ten (29%) think AI could make better investment decisions than they can themselves, while 22% cite its lower cost compared with a fund manager and 21% think it could pick better investments than one.
Lale Akoner added: “What we are seeing is a more mature relationship with AI. Investors are becoming more demanding about where the financial returns from the technology will come from, while at the same time becoming increasingly comfortable with AI as part of their own investment process.
“For retail investors, its appeal is practical: helping to process information, reduce research time and support decision-making. That is very different from simply assuming that anything associated with AI will deliver investment returns.”
ENDS
Notes
The latest Retail Investor Beat was based on a survey of 11,000 retail investors across 13 countries and 3 continents. The following countries had 1,000 respondents: UK, US, Germany, France, Australia, Singapore, Italy and Spain. The following countries had 600 respondents: Netherlands, Denmark, Poland, Romania, and the Czech Republic.
The survey was conducted from 13–28 August 2026 and carried out by research company Opinium. Retail investors were defined as self-directed or advised and had to hold at least one investment product including shares, bonds, funds, investment ISAs or equivalent. They did not need to be etoro users.
The figures and results presented in this survey are based on the responses of participants at the time the survey was conducted. They reflect responders’ opinions, views and perceptions and should not be interpreted as investment advice or a guarantee of future performance. Percentages and results may not be representative of the broader population and are subject to change as market conditions and sentiment evolve.
The post UK investors back Big Tech’s AI spending but become choosier over tech giants appeared first on USNewsRank.