AI is the 'fourth industrial revolution' - and will see $1 trillion in investment, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says

• Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the AI boom is not mere hype but the "fourth industrial revolution."
• "I do not believe that this is a hype cycle," he told CNBC, comparing it to a "1995 moment" when the internet broke out.

Some investors have called the investor excitement over artificial intelligence a passing hype, but it's not, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.

Speaking in a CNBC interview on Tuesday, the tech stock expert characterized the rise of the groundbreaking technology as the "fourth industrial revolution."

"I think this is the fourth industrial revolution playing out. This is something I call a 1995 moment, parallel with the internet. I do not believe that this is a hype cycle," Ives said.

"I think this is really transformational changes to technology that I think would change the tech space for the next 20-30 years," he continued, adding that the US equity market is at the cusp of a fresh tech bull market.

US stocks, especially in the tech sector, have rallied this year as investors piled into companies exposed to AI, following by the successful release of OpenAI's ChatGPT. While the S&P 500 has risen about 14% so far this year, the Nasdaq 100 has seen an impressive 36% surge since the start of January.

Heavily AI-exposed companies including Nvidia, Oracle and Microsoft have seen steep jumps in stock prices, boosting their market valuations as well as the wealth of their respective CEOs.

Ives has frequently commented on the AI boom, recently saying investors should prepare for another rally that'll lift a broader group of tech stocks.

Per CNBC, Ives said the AI industry will see a trillion dollars of incremental spend over the next decade. "That could be conservative — that wasn't here six months ago," he said.