Dan Ives Says AI Leaders Can't 'Stop The Elevator' With Meta In The 'Ferrari Left Lane' As AI Race Accelerates

• Ives extended that reasoning about Meta to Apple, saying its large installed base could help the company turn AI investments into revenue.
• He said investors are increasingly recognizing the “second, third, fourth derivatives of AI.” 
• He pointed to companies such as Palantir, Snowflake, Salesforce and Oracle as examples. 

Yorkville Ives founder Dan Ives pushed back on the recent selloff in software stocks on Friday morning, calling the widely discussed “SaaS apocalypse” a “fictional narrative” rather than an inevitable outcome for the industry. 

The term describes investors’ fear that powerful AI models and autonomous agents could replace traditional subscription software, driving down demand, pricing power and the value of seat-based SaaS products.

In an interview with CNBC, Ives pointed to Meta Platforms (META) as the leading beneficiary of the shifting AI landscape. He said Meta is unlikely to slow its AI push even if OpenAI and Anthropic pull back, pointing out that the comments came ahead of the company’s Meta Connect 2026 event next week.

“When you get to the top of, you know, the penthouse, you don't stop the elevator to others coming up, and I think the regulatory capture issue, you've seen the industry push back hard,” Ives said. “Instead, they’re going to be in a Ferrari left lane going 100 miles an hour because that just enables them to narrow the gap,” Ives said. 

He pointed to Meta’s roughly 3.5 billion users as a key advantage, saying the company has a massive installed base it can use to monetize AI.

META stock gained over 1% in pre-market trade. On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock trended improved to ‘bearish’ from ‘extremely bearish’ territory over the past day. 

Meta, Apple Have AI Monetization Advantage

Ives also extended that argument to Apple (AAPL), saying the companies with large existing user bases could have an advantage in turning AI investment into revenue. “It’s those with the install bases that are going to be able to monetize,” he said.

AAPL stock traded flat in pre-market trade after the company’s iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max went on sale globally. 

This is the first time that Apple has split the iPhone launch across three different windows. The Duo, Apple’s first foldable, is scheduled to launch next month, with a lower-priced iPhone set for release in the spring. 

Ives Sees AI Opportunity Beyond OpenAI And Anthropic

“There’s a renaissance that’s happened because it started with Palantir, then to Snowflake, and now what you’re seeing across the board from Salesforce, even Oracle now starting to get a bid,” Ives said in the interview. 

Ives said investors are increasingly recognizing the “second, third, fourth derivatives of AI,” arguing that the opportunity extends well beyond the companies building the largest AI models.

“It’s not just Anthropic and OpenAI. They’re going to own the trillions of dollars being spent,” Ives said, adding that hyperscalers could continue to narrow the gap.

PLTR stock edged 0.6% higher in pre-market trade, while SNOW stock was 0.6% higher. CRM stock rose 0.3%, and ORCL stock fell 0.5%.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around PLTR, SNOW and CRM trended in ‘bearish’ territory over the past day. Meanwhile, sentiment around Oracle fell to ‘bullish’ from the ‘extremely bullish’ zone.

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