The AI Build-Out Is Just Getting Started
Written by Motley Fool Staff for The Motley Fool -> In this episode of Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing , Motley Fool contributor Rachel Warren talks with Jay Jacobs, U.S. Head of Equity ETFs at BlackRock, about the firm's 2026 thematic outlook, including: To catch full episod
In this episode of Motley Fool Hidden Gems Investing , Motley Fool contributor Rachel Warren talks with Jay Jacobs, U.S. Head of Equity ETFs at BlackRock, about the firm's 2026 thematic outlook, including:
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Jay Jacobs: Token consumption last year grew 17 times. Not 17%, which I think most people would view as a pretty good growth company, 17 times growth of token consumption. Essentially, as much money as the major large language bottle providers are plowing into capital expenditures, they can't keep up with AI demand. Even just in the last several months, I think the narrative has shifted in the market from that of we worried companies are over-investing in capex to what if companies are actually under-investing in capex?
Rachel Warren: That was BlackRock 's U.S. head of equity ETFs, Jay Jacobs, breaking down what the data actually says about AI's growth trajectory. I'm Motley Fool analyst Rachel Warren. I sat down with Jay to dig into BlackRock's newly released 2026 thematic outlook, covering everything from the AI infrastructure build-out to tokenization to what retail investors should be doing with their portfolios right now. Enjoy. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Motley Fool Conversations. I'm Motley Fool analyst Rachel Warren. Today, I'm excited to welcome Jay Jacobs, the U.S. Head of Equity ETFs at BlackRock, to the show. Jay oversees the overall product strategy, thought leadership, and client engagement for the firm's index and active equity ETF business. Prior to his current role, Jay founded and led Global x ETFs research and strategy team and previously served as a business analyst at the New York Stock Exchange, where he helped launch hundreds of ETFs on the NYSE ARCA trading platform. Today, we're going to be diving deep into the massive structural shifts shaping the global economy with BlackRock's newly released 2026 Thematic Outlook, which details how the next leg of AI Compute is colliding with physical power grid bottlenecks, surging sovereign defense spending, and a massive wave of real-world asset tokenization. Jay, welcome to the show.
