Cathie Wood sees the mood shifting fast. As talk of Trump-era deregulation heats up, U.S. corporations aren't waiting for Novemberthey're already opening their wallets. Speaking at the Founders Forum Global conference in Oxford, Wood told Bloomberg's Trumponomics podcast that companies like Meta are stepping up capital spending, citing its reported investment in AI firm Scale AI as just one early signal. After years of cash-hoarding and policy paralysis under Biden, she said, the tide may finally be turning. Massive capital spending is how she framed it.

But this isn't just about boardroom budgets. Investors, Wood argues, are quietly backing away from megacap technot because of performance, but because the safety playbook is starting to fray. The investor base in those companies they were looking for safety. This doesn't feel as safe any more, she said. That pivot is reflected in ARK's $6.3 billion Innovation ETF (ARKK), which has outpaced the S&P 500 (SPY) this year with nearly 12% gains, despite underperforming over the longer term. The shift in tone feels like a return to riskand disruptive growth is getting a second wind.

At the heart of that bet? Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA). After trimming her position earlier this year, Wood has been buying again. She now calls it the largest AI project on earth, thanks to its autonomous driving efforts. As corporate risk appetite comes back and the dollar potentially strengthens, Wood sees Tesla's AI edge as a long-term compounder in ARK's portfolio. In a market still pricing in caution, she's leaning into what she sees as the next wave of aggressive innovationand Tesla is once again leading the charge.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.