This AI ETF Is Missing the Biggest AI Winners

The Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) has fallen more than 9% over five years despite gaining roughly 140% since its 2016 inception. BOTZ's underperformance stems from heavy concentration in legacy industrial automation stocks, significant international exposure, and minimal allocation to pure-play AI and hyperscaler names. Despite recent struggles, BOTZ remains positioned to benefit long-term from forecasted growth in industrial, service, and humanoid robotics markets, with Tesla's Optimus program as a key catalyst.

For investors who favor exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the market has never been more dynamic. Not only do ETFs now outnumber individual stocks, but the sheer versatility of today’s funds allows investors to target nuanced strategies, from exposure to thematic trends like the memory chip shortage to increasingly risky leveraged short-term speculation. But as with any asset class, being innovative is no guarantee of success. And despite AI continuing to dominate the market narrative, one ETF that provides exposure to it has demonstrated that an early start does not always translate into market-beating returns.

The Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF NASDAQ: BOTZ debuted on Sept. 12, 2016, providing market-cap-selected and weighted exposure to companies involved in the development and production of robots or AI. Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF (BOTZ) Price Chart for Friday, September, 11, 2026 Since its inception, BOTZ has gained roughly 140%. But over the past five years, the ETF is down more than 9%, including a loss of around 15% from its all-time high on May 13. Given some fundamental challenges its portfolio presents, that downtrend looks unlikely to abate in the near term.

The foremost cause of the Global X Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF’s underperformance boils down to the fund’s composition. Nearly 48% of BOTZ’s portfolio is in the industrials sector , with technology trailing around 35%. That’s because the ETF currently has a heavy allocation to legacy automation, including traditional factory automation and hardware companies such as Keyence OTCMKTS: KYCCF , its largest holding, ABB Ltd. OTCMKTS: ABBNY , and FANUC OTCMKTS: FANUY . Those three companies alone account for roughly 29% of the fund, and each has seen elevated volatility this year. More broadly, the fund’s top 10 holdings make up more than 57% of its portfolio, creating significant concentration risk.

The fund’s second-largest holding, NVIDIA NASDAQ: NVDA , is down more than 5% since hitting its all-time high on May 14 following a torrid five-year run. The pillar of the semiconductor industry —which announced the $12.93 acquisition of Hugging Face on Sept. 3—now carries a beta of 2.22, making it 122% more volatile than the market. The ETF lacks significant pure-play AI exposure beyond NVIDIA. By industry exposure, semiconductors only account for about 10% of the fund. Meanwhile, Alphabet NASDAQ: GOOGL provides the fund's only hyperscaler exposure. But at just over 2% of the portfolio, BOTZ largely misses out on the mega-cap tech names that are often responsible for a disproportionate share of the market’s performance.

The fund’s concentration has magnified the effect of weak performance from several holdings, including: The fund’s third-largest Magnificent Seven position, Tesla NASDAQ: TSLA , is d own more than 19% year to date (YTD) . Robotic-assisted surgical systems manufacturer Intuitive Surgical NASDAQ: ISRG is down more than 36% YTD . And Chinese AI and digital services provider Baidu NASDAQ: BIDU is down more than 30% ...