When artificial intelligence (AI) thematic exchange-traded funds (ETFs) first launched, they were mostly passively managed, index-based products.
These funds tracked either an external benchmark or an internally developed index that mechanically identified AI-linked stocks and assigned weights. The result was a transparent, rules-based way to capture the industry’s growth, but left little discretion to portfolio managers or analysts. However, investor demand for AI-focused solutions has since fueled rapid expansion in the ETF niche.
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While the largest by assets under management (AUM), such as the Global X Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (ticker: AIQ), are still passive index trackers, newer entrants have been attracting significant inflows. One standout that has surged to $836 million in AUM in just over four months since its June launch is the Dan Ives Wedbush AI Revolution ETF (IVES).
Managed by Dan Ives, a well-known Wall Street equity analyst and managing director at Wedbush Securities in charge of technology research, the ETF’s rapid inflows underscored strong retail demand for a differentiated, high-conviction AI strategy.
Despite the fanfare, IVES isn’t the only new AI ETF worth a look. This niche also includes AI ETFs selling covered calls to generate income and even products that incorporate privately held AI companies, pushing the boundaries of the ETF structure.
Still, all of them share one core trait: They provide diversified exposure to the AI theme, helping investors avoid overreliance on the performance of any single company, even the larger multibillion-dollar names.
“We’re still in the early stages of the AI cycle, and proper diversification is extremely important — be it across company stages or geographies — because it’s difficult to pick a winner or two this early,” says Tejas Dessai, director of thematic research at Global X ETFs. “With a thematic exchange-traded fund, you’re following an idea as opposed to a complex strategy.”
Here are six of the best AI ETFs to buy now:
| ETF | Expense ratio |
| Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) | 0.68% |
| Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (CHAT) | 0.75% |
| VistaShares Artificial Intelligence Supercycle ETF (AIS) | 0.75% |
| Tortoise AI Infrastructure ETF (TCAI) | 0.65% |
| KraneShares Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AGIX) | 0.99% |
| REX AI Equity Premium Income ETF (AIPI) | 0.65% |
Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ)
AIQ is one of the more popular AI ETFs because it was among the first movers and provided fairly diversified exposure to the overall AI value chain. Global X, however, also offers a more focused option in the form of BOTZ. This fund includes 53 companies across technology, health care and industrials. The emphasis is on firms actively deploying AI and robotics solutions in their operations.
“When you think about smartphones, laptops or even mobile applications, lower prices and cheaper development costs didn’t shrink the market but expanded it as innovation accelerated,” Dessai explains. “AI could follow the same trajectory, embedding itself into the physical world — from factories and drones to delivery vans and buildings.” BOTZ charges a 0.68% expense ratio.
Roundhill Generative AI & Technology ETF (CHAT)
“CHAT selects stocks using a proprietary methodology that combines a transcript score and sector score to evaluate companies’ relevance to generative AI, factoring in their revenue, profit and R&D investment in AI technologies,” explains Dave Mazza, CEO at Roundhill Investments. “Companies are then scored and selected based on their exposure to AI, market capitalization and liquidity.”
CHAT’s proprietary active management has paid off. From May 5, 2018, to Oct. 7, 2025, this ETF strongly outperformed both AIQ and the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which passively tracks the Nasdaq-100 index. Investors who forked over a relatively high 0.75% expense ratio have been rewarded with outperformance since CHAT’s inception. However, future outperformance is not guaranteed.
VistaShares Artificial Intelligence Supercycle ETF (AIS)
“AIS leverages our proprietary ‘Bill of Materials’ methodology that was designed by AI luminaries on our investment committee,” says Adam Patti, CEO of VistaShares ETFs. “We analyze the supply chain, layer in the actual costs to build AI data centers and semiconductors, and then dig into the company financials to determine their true AI business pipelines and related revenue.” It charges a 0.75% expense ratio.
The top holdings of AIS currently feature a heavy semiconductor tilt with significant foreign exposure, making it unlike U.S. tech-heavy benchmarks. “If you run an analysis between the S&P 500 and most AI ETFs, you will see high overlap,” Patti explains. “Not so with AIS, which consists mainly of the ‘picks and shovels’ of AI infrastructure via companies that most investors may not own.”
Tortoise AI Infrastructure ETF (TCAI)
“While demand for AI in our everyday lives continues to rise, it’s important to note that AI doesn’t run on code alone,” says Rob Thummel, managing director and senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital. “Behind every AI breakthrough is essential infrastructure capable of storing and processing massive amounts of electricity, data and information.” Exposure to this segment can be obtained via TCAI.
“Critical electricity infrastructure ensures these data centers remain operational 24/7 without interruption,” Thummel explains. This reasoning is why TCAI’s portfolio goes beyond data centers and Bitcoin miners to also encompass power generation utilities, building technology manufacturers and midstream energy assets. The ETF charges a 0.65% expense ratio.
KraneShares Artificial Intelligence & Technology ETF (AGIX)
Outside of Elon Musk’s xAI and Microsoft-backed OpenAI, another hot AI startup is Anthropic, the company behind large language model Claude. Since Anthropic is private and its shares do not trade on an exchange, direct ownership is not possible, but AGIX provides exposure with a 3.2% allocation, alongside many established mega-cap tech names. The ETF charges a 0.99% expense ratio.
“KraneShares has a fair value committee that assigns a fair value to private holdings, based on factors such as primary round valuation, secondary market transaction prices and other material information,” explains Derek Yan, senior investment strategist at KraneShares. “Moreover, the maturing secondary private transaction market could provide liquidity if we want to change the exposure to Anthropic.”
REX AI Equity Premium Income ETF (AIPI)
“AIPI’s covered call strategy generates a considerable amount of income by selling call options on each of the individual holdings,” says Scott Acheychek, chief operating officer at REX Financial. “This provides a rare income source in a sector not typically associated with dividends.” This ETF currently delivers a high 34.8% distribution rate, 100% categorized as return of capital that isn’t taxable but lowers your cost basis.
AIPI delivers such a high yield because AI-related stocks are highly volatile, and this volatility drives up the premiums AIPI collects when selling call options on its holdings. The trade-off is that in a bull market, the ETF caps upside potential since gains are paid out as monthly distributions instead of coming through share price appreciation. At the same time, the strategy provides little downside protection.
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6 of the Best AI ETFs to Buy for 2025 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 10/08/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
