It’s an exciting time to be a long-term investor right now. Currently, we’re in the early stages of a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered industrial revolution – aka the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’ – and this is creating some very lucrative investment opportunities.

Interested in this? Here are three growth stocks at the heart of this revolution that could be worth considering.

Powering the AI industry

It’s impossible to talk about AI and not mention Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA). That’s because its ‘accelerated computing’ GPU (graphics processing unit) technology is powering the majority of AI applications today.

Without its technology, we wouldn’t have ChatGPT. To train this application, it took tens of thousands of Nvidia GPUs (these cost around $40k each).

Now, Nvidia shares have had an amazing run so they could pull back in the short term. However, taking a long-term view, I remain bullish.

In the near future, the company’s going to launch its new AI chip platform Blackwell. And in the words of CEO Jensen Huang, demand for these chips is ‘insane’:

We are at the beginning of a new industrial revolution

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang

It’s worth noting that Nvidia’s a volatile stock. If there’s news a competitor’s developed a powerful new AI chip, it could fall.

I expect significant growth in the years ahead however. I plan to buy more shares for my portfolio on the dips.

The key to chip production

Taking a step back, computer chips in general are going to play a major role in the digital revolution. That’s because they’re essentially the ‘brains’ of all electronic devices.

One stock I like for exposure here is KLA Corp (NASDAQ: KLAC). It plays a vital role in the industry as its technology helps to ensure chip quality and production efficiency.

The way I see it, this is a great ‘picks-and-shovels play’ on the semiconductor industry. In the same way that those selling picks and shovels did well in the gold rush, this company should do well as the world becomes more digital in the years ahead (no matter which chip companies dominate the market).

I’ll point out that the chip industry can be cyclical at times. And concerns about market weakness can send this stock down.

We’re looking at a powerful long-term growth story here though. So I recently bought some shares in the company for my portfolio.

A UK data centre stock

Another area of technology that’s key to this digital revolution is data centres. These store and process the massive amounts of data used in AI applications.

One company I’ve invested in for exposure here is Volex (LSE: VLX). It’s a UK manufacturing company that specialises in data transmission cables. Recently, it’s been having success on the back of the global data centre boom. For the six-month period to the end of March, revenue growth in its Complex Industrial Technology division came in at 32%.

I have to remember that Volex also makes power products for other industries (electric vehicles, consumer electricals etc). And these industries can experience weakness at times.

I’m backing this company to do well on the back of the growth of the data centre industry though. Currently, it has a low valuation (the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio is just 13) so I believe it has the potential to generate strong long-term returns.