For the last two decades, investors favored "bits" businesses — software, apps, and online platforms. The logic was simple: software scales cheaply, distributes instantly, and can generate huge margins once built. By contrast, "atoms" businesses, involving physical assets like factories, logistics, or energy , were seen as slower, capital-intensive and less profitable. That balance is starting to shift. A growing number of investors and founders now argue the rise of AI is flipping the script,