AI's Second Growth Phase, Defense, and Asset Tokenization: BlackRock iShares' Key Investment Themes for 2026

On the 21st, BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, released a report through its ETF brand iShares, highlighting its investment themes for 2026, which include artificial intelligence (AI), defense, and tokenization. The report points out that AI is moving into its second growth phase, transitioning from simple 'chat' interactions to handling more complex tasks. It now encompasses advanced functions such as video generation and autonomous AI agents, leading to a dramatic increase in the computational power (and token usage) required, even with the same number of users.