The wheel. The printing press. Electricity. The computer. The internet. Those are some of the biggest technological advancements in human history. Now we're seeing another blossom right in front of our eyes: artificial intelligence (AI).

Goldman Sachs predicts that one specific type of AI -- generative AI -- will by itself boost global GDP by nearly $7 trillion over a 10-year period. Even if that estimate is way too optimistic, investors have an opportunity to build fortunes with the right AI stocks.

There are plenty of alternatives out there. But if you're looking for a surefire AI winner, buy Amazon (AMZN -0.50%) stock.

Already winning

Amazon is already a big AI winner. Just look at its stock performance so far this year. This remarkable gain is due in large part to investors' intense interest in all things AI.

After OpenAI launched ChatGPT, some people speculated that Amazon was being left behind in the generative AI race. The company soon demolished such concerns. Just months after ChatGPT was introduced, Amazon rolled out multiple new AI products and services that were well-received.

AI played a key role in Amazon's recent second-quarter earnings blowout, too. The company delivered strong profits that trounced Wall Street expectations. 

Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky noted in the Q2 call, "Our performance-based advertising offerings continue to be the largest contributor to our growth." And what was a critical catalyst for this growth? Olsavsky said that Amazon's staff used machine learning (a type of AI) to "increase the relevancy of the ads we show to our customers." 

Bigger opportunities ahead

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stressed in the Q2 call, "It's important to remember that we're in the very early days of the adoption and success of generative AI." He also believes that consumer applications are just one part of the bigger opportunities that lie ahead.

Jassy said that Amazon is investing heavily in what it sees as the three layers of generative AI. The lowest layer includes training foundational AI models and inference (the process of using the model to make predictions). Amazon Web Services (AWS) already helps customers with these tasks using Nvidia chips. Amazon also developed its own custom chips Trainium and Inferentia, which are used for training AI models and inference, respectively.

The middle layer is large language models as a service. Many customers don't want to build their own AI models. Instead, they prefer to access and customize other models. Amazon can meet these needs with its Bedrock service that makes multiple foundational models available for customers.

Finally, there's the top layer -- the AI apps. Amazon is building such apps on its own, including AI-powered software coding assistant CodeWhisperer. Jassy stated, "Inside Amazon, every one of our teams is working on building generative AI applications that reinvent and enhance their customers' experience."

However, most AI apps will be built by other organizations. Jassy expressed optimism that "the largest number of these will be built on AWS." He said, "We think AWS is poised to be customers' long-term partner of choice in generative AI."

AI inside and out

It's quite clear that AI is central to Amazon's internal improvements. The technology is already helping increase profitability. Jassy mentioned that AI efforts that are currently underway should help Amazon become even more cost-effective and further streamline its operations.

But AI also is important to Amazon in growing its AWS and e-commerce businesses by attracting new customers and boosting the spending of existing customers. The company appears to be on the right track for success on this front, too.

There will be several big AI winners over the next decade and beyond. I'm confident that Amazon will be one of them.