- Tech Stock Insider
- Posts
- The Tiny Chip That Helps Cameras See, Drones Think, And Robots Not Bonk Into Walls
The Tiny Chip That Helps Cameras See, Drones Think, And Robots Not Bonk Into Walls
Noah Zelvis
February 27, 2026
AI is getting kicked out of the cloud and pushed into the real world.
That means more cameras, more sensors, more robots, and way more moments where a device has to decide something fast, without phoning home for help.
Details Inside (Sponsored)
A new research report highlights 5 stocks with the strongest potential to double in the year ahead.
Each was selected from thousands of companies and shows a rare mix of:
Strong fundamentals
Bullish technical setups
Past versions of this report delivered gains of +175%, +498%, and even +673%¹ — and the latest edition is free for a short time.
Available only until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT.
Download the free report
*This free resource is being sent by Zacks. We identify investment resources you may choose to use in making your own decisions. Use of this resource is subject to the Zacks Terms of Service.
*Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investing involves risk. This material does not constitute investment, legal, accounting, or tax advice. Zacks Investment Research is not a licensed dealer, broker, or investment adviser.
Never Miss Our Top Tech Recommendations Again!
We now send our tech picks via text, too, so you’ll get the same tech breakout news without having to open your inbox.
Streaming
Spotify Is Turning Books Into A Discovery Engine
Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) has launched Audiobook Charts in the U.S. and U.K., ranking the most popular titles overall and by genre based on listening behavior and engagement.
The charts update weekly and mirror Spotify's format for music and podcast rankings.
Both free and paid users can access the charts in the audiobooks hub via the search tab. It is a small feature with a clear purpose — make audiobook discovery as easy as finding a trending song.
Part Of A Bigger Audiobook Push
Spotify has been steadily building out its audiobook ecosystem since officially supporting the format in 2022.
Recent additions include Page Match, which lets users scan a physical book page to jump to the matching spot in the audiobook, and Audiobook Recaps.
These short summaries catch listeners up on where they left off.
The company also announced a partnership with Bookshop.org earlier this month, allowing U.S. and U.K. users to buy physical copies of books directly in the app.
Spotify is no longer just streaming audiobooks — it is building an end-to-end book experience.
Discovery Drives Demand
Spotify demonstrated, through music and podcasts, that surfacing content through charts and recommendations increases consumption.
Applying the same playbook to audiobooks is a bet that visibility creates demand for authors and publishers, just as it does for artists.
The audiobook market is growing fast, and Spotify wants to own the discovery layer. Charts are step one — expect the recommendation engine to follow.
Consumer Hardware
A Cheap MacBook Could Be Apple's Best Windows Killer
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is expected to announce a new low-cost MacBook next week, reportedly priced between $699 and $799.
The laptop would sit below the $999 MacBook Air and skip the M-series chips entirely, instead running on a mobile processor rumored to be the A18 Pro from the iPhone 16 Pro.
That chip benchmarks faster than the M1 and delivers more than enough power for everyday productivity work.
Rumors also point to a new aluminum chassis, which would make it feel more premium than most Windows laptops in the same price range.
The Timing Lines Up Against Microsoft
Microsoft has spent the last two years pushing Copilot and AI features instead of improving core Windows usability.
Buggy updates have frustrated users, and the aggressive AI integration has drawn widespread criticism.
macOS remains clean and bloat-free, Apple Intelligence can be turned off in two clicks, and iPhone mirroring gives existing iPhone owners a strong reason to switch.
The transition from Windows to Mac has also gotten significantly easier with the rise of web-based apps.
This Is A Land Grab For First-Time Mac Buyers
Apple tested budget pricing by selling the M1 MacBook Air through Walmart for as low as $650 last year.
A purpose-built, cheap MacBook turns that experiment into a permanent product line aimed at millions of price-sensitive buyers.
Not everyone needs the GPU power of a MacBook Air. A $699 entry point gives Apple a door into a market segment it has ignored for over a decade.
Early Access (Sponsored)
In a bombshell interview, Elon Musk declared that AI and robotics are "the only thing" that can solve America's $38 trillion debt crisis.
He predicts it will happen within three years. One Wall Street veteran has identified
a single fund at the center of this AI buildout - and you can get in for less than $20.
See what Musk didn't tell you
Data Center
AMD Just Locked In The Biggest AI Chip Contract Of Its Life
Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Meta have entered a multiyear agreement that could see Meta purchase up to $100 billion in AMD AI chips, enough to power roughly 6 gigawatts of data center capacity.
The deal is structured as a multiyear partnership with performance-based milestones that tie the two companies together at the infrastructure level.
This is not a one-time purchase order — it is a long-term bet on AMD as a primary compute supplier.
CPUs Are Becoming The AI Inference Workhorse
The deal highlights a shift in how hyperscalers think about AI compute. CPUs are efficient, scalable, and reduce dependency on any single GPU supplier.
Meta is building a diversified compute stack in which AMD plays a central role alongside Nvidia and its in-house chip efforts.
AMD has been steadily gaining ground in data centers, and this agreement validates its product roadmap at hyperscale.
This is a production-level commitment, not a pilot program.
AMD Graduates From Alternative To Essential
For years, AMD has been positioned as the cheaper option next to Nvidia. This deal changes that framing entirely.
When the world's largest social media company commits $100 billion to your silicon, you are no longer the backup plan.
AMD now sits at the core of one of the biggest AI infrastructure buildouts in tech history. That is a fundamentally different competitive position than it held even six months ago.
Trivia: What was the original IPO price of Netflix in 2002? |
Recent Tech Movers
Cloudinary (NYSE: CLDY)
The AI Content Boom Needs A File Cabinet
Cloudinary is basically the behind-the-scenes media engine that helps apps store, transform, and deliver images and video without melting.
That sounds boring until you remember we just entered the era of infinite content: AI marketing images, AI product photos, AI short-form video, and creators pumping out assets like it’s a hydration challenge.
The simple angle: when businesses ship more visual content, they need infrastructure that keeps pages fast and media workflows painless.
If you’re looking for a “picks-and-shovels” way to play the content explosion without betting on who wins the model war, this one sits in a useful spot.
Quick take: Builders like it for a steady “more content = more usage” tailwind. Traders watch for sentiment swings because anything tied to software spend can get moody fast.
Semtech (NASDAQ: SMTC)
The Unsexy Connectivity Trade That Keeps Getting Invited Back
Semtech lives in that world where the product is not the headline; it’s the connection.
More sensors, more devices, more data flying around means more demand for chips that help move it efficiently.
If AI is turning everything into a data generator, connectivity names quietly benefit, even if nobody’s bragging about them at parties.
The investing setup tends to be: when the market gets excited about AI infrastructure and device growth, this type of name gets attention.
When the market gets nervous, it gets tossed in the “who even is this” pile. That volatility is the opportunity.
Quick take: Good watchlist candidate if you like infrastructure-adjacent names that can move when the tape turns risk-on.
Onto Innovation (NYSE: ONTO)
Chip Equipment, But Make It AI Adjacent
Onto is in the business of helping chipmakers measure, inspect, and improve what they’re building.
And as chips get more complex, especially with advanced packaging and AI-driven designs, the “make sure this actually works” step becomes more important.
This is a classic second-derivative AI play: not the chips everyone argues about on TV, but the tools that help those chips get built correctly.
When the semiconductor cycle turns up, equipment and process-control names can get a nice rerating. When the cycle turns down, they can feel like they’re wearing ankle weights.
Quick take: Builders can accumulate on pullbacks if they believe the AI buildout keeps pushing chip complexity higher. Traders watch for cyclical sentiment shifts.
Early Access (Sponsored)
A major energy breakthrough is unfolding — and it’s happening faster than most realize.
An MIT-trained scientist has unlocked a virtually inexhaustible energy source, now drawing attention from the Trump administration.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, it could power the world for billions of years.
That’s why big techs are racing to get involved.
Once operational, the fuel itself costs nothing.
Which is why early positioning — even small — could matter more than people expect.
The Long Pick
Ambarella (NASDAQ: AMBA)
Why This Name Is Interesting Right Now
This company’s lane is edge AI, specifically computer vision. Translation: it helps cameras and devices understand what they are looking at, then act quickly.
That can show up in security cameras, industrial systems, drones, cars, and robots.
In a world where everything is getting a camera and everything is getting smarter, that is not a bad place to set up camp.
The bigger theme is that AI is moving from “chat on a screen” to “decisions in the physical world.”
That shift favors chips and software that can process vision data efficiently, because sending everything to the cloud is slow, expensive, and sometimes not an option.
Scorecard You Can Use
Right trend: AI is spreading into cameras, robots, and industrial gear, not just laptops.
Edge matters: Devices need fast decisions, not a buffering wheel.
Multiple end-markets: If one segment slows, others can still carry the story.
Sentiment sensitive: Smaller AI-adjacent names can rip on good news and flop on weak guidance.
Why The Tape Cares
A lot of investors are starting to realize the next AI wave is not only bigger models. It is more sensors and more autonomy.
If more “things” need to be seen and decided locally, the value shifts toward edge compute and vision stacks.
This kind of stock can also benefit from the market’s love of simple narratives.
And the narrative here is clean: more automation means more vision, more vision means more processing, and processing needs specialized tech.
What Could Go Sideways
Competition: Vision and edge AI is crowded. Big players want this market too.
Customer concentration risk: If a major customer slows orders, the stock can feel it quickly.
Product cycle timing: These names can trade like a heartbeat monitor around design wins and launches.
Market mood: If investors rotate out of growth, smaller AI-adjacent names often get hit first.
What To Watch Next
Design wins: Any new customer announcements or expanded programs.
Mix shift: More industrial and enterprise use is usually better than consumer-only dependence.
Gross margin direction: A quiet tell on pricing power and product quality.
Management tone: Are they talking about real deployments, or just “big opportunities” with no receipts?
Actionable Take
Builders: Treat this like a position you build in pieces. Add on red days, size it so you can hold through volatility, and give it time for the edge-AI trend to compound.
Traders: This is a “levels, not vibes” stock. Let it prove strength, use tight risk management, and expect sharp moves both ways around news.
Bottom Line
If AI is leaving the cloud and moving into cameras, robots, and real-world automation, this is the kind of under-the-radar vision play that can surprise people.
It is not the loudest name in the room, but it’s in a lane where demand can sneak up fast.
Everything Else
🤖 Anthropic is pitching its models for defense work while the Pentagon side-eyes the whole thing like a potential AI spy thriller.
🚪 Amazon just lost the head of its AGI lab, a leadership exit that has big-brain watchers refreshing the org chart like it’s earnings day.
🇺🇸 Apple plans to move some Mac mini production to the U.S. in 2026, because nothing says supply-chain glow-up like a Made in comeback tour.
📱 ByteDance’s Doubao is winning China’s holiday AI battle with a reported 100M users, basically turning festive downtime into a national chat binge.
💾 HP is warning that U.S. trade rules could raise memory chip costs, a reminder that tariffs can hit your laptop budget faster than your next software update.
That's our coverage for today; thanks for reading! Reply to this email with feedback or any tech stocks you want me to check out.
Best Regards,
—Noah Zelvis
Tech Stock Insider