AI investment: How regulation could determine who captures the profits

Opinion byGreg SmithNZ Herald·29 Sep, 2026 04:00 PM8 mins to readGreg Smith is an investment specialist at GenerateSecurity guardrails could become a major investment market. Image / GettyArtificial intelligence is rapidly emerging as the biggest investment opportunity since the internet. But that does not mean every AI company, semiconductor manufacturer, software developer or data-centre project will produce attractive returns. History shows that transformative technologies can create enormous economic value while investors still back the wrong companies, pay