Philippe Laffont on the Intelligence Age, AI Infrastructure & the Model Race | CNBC Squawk Box

Artificial intelligence represents a fundamental shift in the global economy, transitioning from the information age to an intelligence-driven era where computing power functions as a utility. Philippe Laffont, founder of the tech hedge fund Coatue, emphasizes that capturing value in this sector requires looking upstream at the essential infrastructure supporting AI, including data centers, power generation, and land acquisition. Rather than betting on specific AI models, investors should focus on the "around the hoop" suppliers, such as semiconductor equipment manufacturers, to mitigate risk. Laffont advocates for a long-term investment horizon, noting that short-term optimization often leads to missed opportunities in transformative trends. Furthermore, space exploration, particularly through companies like SpaceX, emerges as a critical future frontier for industries ranging from telecommunications to data storage, signaling a massive, high-certainty economic expansion over the next decade.