Bill Ackman isn't one to follow the herd. And right now, he sees the herd making a classic mistake: chasing shiny new AI startups while ignoring the high-quality companies that are actually powering the revolution.

The billionaire investor, who runs Pershing Square Capital, has been quietly building positions in three Magnificent Seven stocks — Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon — and he thinks they're undervalued in a market obsessed with growth at any cost.

Speaking at a recent event hosted by the "All-In Podcast" team, Ackman laid out his thinking. "You're either directly or indirectly invested in AI, or it's a threat, so you have to understand it," he said. The problem, he explained, is that investors tend to gravitate toward the new and exciting, leaving "high-quality stuff" behind.

That sounds a lot like the year 2000, when everyone was piling into internet stocks and value names like Berkshire Hathaway got left for dead — only to deliver massive returns later. Ackman sees a similar dynamic playing out today with Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft. He's betting his hedge fund's capital that these stocks will rise as the market wakes up to their AI potential.

For startups, Ackman is more optimistic. "This is the greatest era in history to build a business," he said, citing unlimited access to compute, capital, and talent. But for investors, the key is to avoid getting caught up in the hype.

Not all tech stocks get Ackman's blessing, though. When asked about the sell-off in software stocks — sometimes called the "SaaSpocalypse" — he singled out Salesforce as a company he worries about. "I worry more about a Salesforce," he said, noting that companies that charge high prices per customer are now at risk of losing partners and clients as AI reshapes the landscape.

The takeaway? Ackman is betting that the real AI winners are the established giants, not the flashy newcomers. And if history is any guide, ignoring the value in plain sight could be the market's biggest blind spot.