3 Unstoppable Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks to Buy Right Now for Less Than $3,000

Growth stocks have been leading the market higher for much of the past two decades, and with artificial intelligence (AI) looking like one of the biggest technological innovations of our lifetimes, that pattern could persist well into the future. So if you have $3,000 to add to your portfolio now, I'd suggest sticking to growth stocks that are market leaders that have strong moats and that are trading at reasonable valuations.

In particular, you could split that investment between these three unstoppable AI stocks and hold onto them for the long term.

Nvidia

Spending on AI infrastructure continues to soar, as five of the largest hyperscalers (owners of giant data centers) have committed to spending a total of $700 billion this year alone to expand their cloud capacity. To put that in perspective, only 24 countries in the world had gross domestic products higher than that in 2025.

One of the biggest beneficiaries of this spending will be Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). The company has about a 90% share of the graphics processing unit (GPU) market, as its chips are the main processors used to power AI workloads. It has created a wide moat in this arena both through its cutting-edge chip designs and its CUDA software platform, which is where most foundational AI code was written. Meanwhile, it has a strong and growing network platform that enables it to deliver end-to-end AI server solutions.

Despite Nvidia's strong continued growth, the stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of just over 23.5, making it a great stock to buy and hold for the long term.

Alphabet

Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) (NASDAQ: GOOG) has the most complete AI stack, with both a leading large language model in Gemini and its own world-class custom AI chips in its Tensor Processing Units (TPUs).

Designing some of its own AI chips gives Alphabet a structural cost advantage, allowing it to train and run its AI models more cheaply than competitors. Meanwhile, it is now just starting to let customers lease its TPUs at scale within its cloud computing business, opening up another revenue stream. Anthropic has placed a large TPU order with Alphabet's chip partner Broadcom, while Google will also become Apple's preferred cloud computing provider.

Alphabet remains the dominant player in search. Because it owns both the market-leading browser (Chrome) and smartphone operating system (Android), and also has a revenue-sharing deal with Apple that makes Google the default search engine on its devices, Google has maintained its position as the de facto gateway to the internet for most people. At the same time, it has embedded Gemini throughout its solutions, including Google Search. Its AI Overviews and AI Mode options are contributing to an increase in search queries, which in turn is helping its search revenue growth accelerate.

Trading at a forward P/E of 26.5, Alphabet is another reasonably priced stock to buy and hold for the long haul.

Image source: Getty Images.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) is the leading chip manufacturer in the world, and as its competitors have struggled to achieve high enough yields of functional cutting-edge silicon, it has become a virtual monopoly when it comes to making advanced chips like GPUs and TPUs. The company's moat derives from both its technological expertise and its scale, which are unmatched in the industry.

With the market for AI infrastructure booming, TSMC is working closely with chip designers to increase manufacturing capacity, and has greatly ramped up its own spending to build new fabs. At the same time, given its integral position in the semiconductor value chain, TSMC has been enjoying strong pricing power. In fact, according to reports, it has already informed customers of its planned schedule to raise prices over the next four years.

Trading at a forward P/E of 25.5 times, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM) is another attractively valued growth stock to buy and hold. Between its growing production capacity and its ability to boost its prices, it has great long-term growth prospects.

Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Alphabet and Broadcom. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, Nvidia, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.