There’s no denying the new gold rush hitting Wall Street, which is the fresh surge in artificial intelligence (AI) stocks. AI is a key turning point in the tech industry. As investors and the public realize its potential, it’s causing them to look for AI gold stocks.

In short, they want to invest in AI stocks and they are on the hunt for AI stocks with high returns. Given the price action we’ve seen in Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), it’s clear that there is massive potential in these stocks. Further, it’s not a game for just small cap stocks. In fact, Nvidia recently, and some would say finally, joined the $1 trillion market capitalization club.

Has the rally been a bit frantic? Indeed. Is there long-term opportunity here in a sustainable new trend? Definitely.

Let’s look at a few of the best picks and shovels AI stocks to buy now.

Nvidia (NVDA)

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) has to be considered atop the best AI gold stocks. That was the case before the recent breakout and it’s certainly the case afterwards. For years now, Nvidia has been working its way up to this moment.

While other firms will lead in the AI movement for their specific industries, and every industry will be impacted by artificial intelligence, the company powering all of these firms will be Nvidia. That’s because its products are what make the applications possible.

Imagine there’s dozens of automakers, but only one company makes the engine. For AI, that company is Nvidia. CEO Jensen Huang recently referred to Nvidia having its “iPhone moment.”

That all said, shares have exploded higher on the hype, as Nvidia stock has rallied nearly 300% from its 52-week low and is up 200% so far in 2023.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

Nvidia has been the clear leader in the rush for AI gold stocks. However, other semiconductor firms have also been riding the wave. Among that group has been Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD).

AMD has quickly turned into one of the top AI stocks, but there is a balance of risk and reward here. On the one hand, I believe that since AMD and Nvidia were, more or less, in a two-horse race to begin with, that AMD will eventually join the AI chip race with Nvidia.

When Nvidia reported earnings, shares exploded higher as the firm’s quarterly outlook was well above what anyone had expected. For AMD though, guidance was disappointing and shares fell 10%.

However, the post-earnings dip was short-lived, because soon after, rumors were floated that the firm was working with Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) to build AI chips. There has been some denial about certain aspects of these two working together on a chip, but regardless, I think AMD will eventually produce AI chips.

That could create short-term risk, but should also create a long-term opportunity.

Microsoft (MSFT)

Because of its investment in ChatGPT parent company OpenAI, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) was the early leader in the AI gold rush. However, even though the stock continues to trade well, the talk of AI seems to center less and less around Microsoft.

Microsoft had invested in OpenAI before, but made a massive multi-billion investment earlier this year. That’s as ChatGPT has completely taken off. It’s still so early in the AI race that it’s not clear how it will all pan out.

For instance, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG, NASDAQ:GOOGL) is bound to build and leverage AI via its Bard product, and utilize it across Gmail, Chrome, Google and other platforms. Given that Alphabet owns the top two websites in the world with Google and YouTube, I don’t expect Microsoft to knock them off the top spot.

That said, Microsoft can leverage AI in its search and browser platforms, while incorporating it into its Enterprise and Windows offerings. Let’s also not forget the power of first-mover advantage.

Admittedly, ChatGPT may have been the first platform to hit it big and that may not last. But the company reached 100 million monthly active users just two months after launch. That makes it “the fastest-growing consumer application in history, according to a UBS study.”

On the date of publication, Bret Kenwell did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.