NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the undisputed leader of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. The company envisioned an AI future over 12 years ago and began executing the blueprint for domination. With such proven foresight and execution, investors pay close attention when NVIDIA sees an opportunity and invests their own money in promising AI companies.
Here are 2 stocks in the computer and technology sector that NVIDIA has invested in that may prove compelling for your portfolio.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals: An AI-Powered Drug Discovery Powerhouse
Bringing a drug to market from drug discovery to U.S. FDA approval can take upwards of 15 years at a cost of $2.5 billion. The initial arduous task of drug discovery can take months to over a year to perform. Up to 90% of all drug candidates tend to fail clinical trials after spending millions of dollars.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: RXRX) speeds up the drug discovery process using AI, automated biology and high-throughput screening and machine learning algorithms to identify and predict the efficacy of potential drug targets. NVIDIA made a $50 million investment in Recursion to help speed up the development of its AI drug discovery models.
The Recursion Data Universe Enables Millions of Weekly Wet Lab Experiments
Recursion's massive proprietary chemical and biological database, called the Recursions Data Universe, spans over 23 petabytes, including data on disease-associated proteins, genes and pathways. Its Recursion Map is comprised of hundreds of billions of searchable chemistry and biological inferences that enable millions of wet lab experiments weekly.
Recursion can assess drugs' potential failure much earlier in the process, saving millions of dollars and bringing drugs to market quicker and more efficiently. Recursion has partnerships with Bayer and Roche Holding AG (OTCMKTS: RHHBY).
Recursion has five treatments in clinical trials and hopes to increase that number up to 10 with the $688 million acquisition of rival Exscientia plc (NASDAQ: EXAI). Exscientia has partnerships with Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY) and Merck KGaA of Germany. New investors in Recursion stock will be getting both companies for the price of one. The merger is an all-stock transaction.
Recursion Pharmaceutical’s chief R&D officer Najat Khan commented, "Recursion and Exscientia coming together is extraordinarily complementary in terms of using end-to-end in discovery from biology to all the way through chemistry. It enables you to make medicines better and faster, and that's what we're trying to do.”
Serv Robotics: Delivering Takeout to a Neighborhood Near You
Food delivery is evolving from people to robots making the deliveries. Serv Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ: SERV) develops and operates AI-powered autonomous self-driving sidewalk delivery robots. They were spun off in 2021 from delivery service PostMates after they were acquired by Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER). Uber is not only an investor but also a partner and customer.
Serv Robotics has a deal with Uber Eats to deploy 2,000 autonomous AI-powered sidewalk delivery robots in 2025. Serv won't be selling the Serve robots but actually operating the fleet to make the deliveries. Currently, Serve Robots only operates in Los Angeles, California, but is expected to start delivering in Dallas, Texas. The company also announced a deal with Shake Shack Inc. (NYSE: SHAK) for delivery services. NVIDIA invested $3.7 million in the company through convertible notes in April 2024.
Evolving into the Third-Generation Serve Robot Partnering with Wing Aviation
The third-generation robots are equipped with the NVIDIA Jetson Orin module offering 5X more computing, Ouster Inc.’s (NYSE: OUST) upgraded sensors and LiDAR, larger cargo bins and smoother suspension, improved water resistance and 40% faster emergency braking. The company is also partnered with autonomous drone delivery service Wing for longer distance deliveries greater than five miles away. Serv robots can hand off the delivery to the Wing flying drones to finish the delivery five to six miles away. Since the drones fly a straight line in the air, bypassing traffic, the deliveries are much quicker. The Serve robots get paid off in a year or operations.
Beyond Delivery, Robots Operating Inside the Restaurant
Serve Robotics acquired a kitchen robotics company, Vebu, which created the Autocado robot used by Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) to make guacamole. Chipotle produces over 100 million pounds of guacamole annually. The acquisition brings Serv one step closer to being a one-stop shop for restaurant automation technology, providing in-restaurant automation and food delivery automation.
Full Cost Recovery For Each Robot Within 12 Months
Serve robots are completing deliveries at a 99% completion rate in Los Angeles. Serve will have 250 robots by the end of 2024 and 2,000 robots deployed in 2025. The full cost recovery of each robot is expected to occur within 12 months. Serve is also outsourcing the construction of its robots to Magna International Inc. (NYSE: MGA).
Serve Robotics CEO Dr. Ali Kashani commented, "Regarding our agreement with Uber Eats to deploy 2,000 robots by year-end 2025, we are ahead of schedule with the initial manufacturing and rollout. We remain on track to deploy 2,000 new robots across multiple markets next year.”
Kashani concludes, "Furthermore, we announced the potential acquisition of Vebu, which brings us into a strategically adjacent service offering, and we initiated partnerships with Wing Aviation and Shack Shak to expand our reach. Importantly, we successfully raised $32.3 million in new capital to provide financial flexibility and fund our expansion plans."
