On Wednesday, AI-related cryptocurrencies experienced a notable surge following former President Donald Trump's announcement of a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. This new initiative, dubbed Stargate, involves collaboration with industry giants such as OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank.

The Stargate Project aims to allocate $500 billion over the next four years toward expanding AI infrastructure in the United States. Key areas of focus include constructing essential data centers and developing the necessary power generation to sustain the AI sector.

This development has already made waves in the financial markets, significantly impacting AI-centric cryptocurrencies. According to CoinGecko, the market capitalization of AI tokens increased by 9%, climbing to $45.83 billion following the announcement.

Notably, AI agent tokens alone saw a 13% rise in their market cap, reaching $14.9 billion. Tokens such as Virtuals Protocol, AIXBT, and AI16Z showed notable performance. Virtuals Protocol gained over 13%, while AI16Z experienced an impressive 36% increase. The AIXBT token rose by 27% in the span of a day.

The recent surge in AI tokens indicates a broader shift in investor focus toward more advanced "sentient" cryptocurrencies. As AI researcher S4mmy noted on Twitter, "Capital is rotating back from static memes to sentient coins."

While Fartcoin and AIXBT maintain market recognition, they have seen declining market caps following a period of rapid growth. S4mmy highlighted that Virtuals Protocol is cementing its status as a foundational component of the agentic infrastructure.

Analyst CyrilXBT expressed high optimism for AI's future, stating, "AI will create generational wealth in 2025." He drew parallels to Bitcoin's doubters, suggesting that current skepticism about AI may lead to missed opportunities for substantial financial gain.

Recently, investments had been pouring into tokens associated with Donald Trump, such as TRUMP and MELANIA, although these experienced significant volatility. However, as reported by BeInCrypto, attention from smart money investors is shifting toward AI tokens following waning enthusiasm for Trump-associated coins. Data from Nansen indicates that a significant share of VIRTUAL, FARTCOIN, and AIXBT tokens is now held by sophisticated investors.