How to invest with AI

Traditional investing means reading filings, watching the news, tracking spreadsheets, and reconciling positions across brokers. Investing with AI means handing the repetitive parts of that work to a large language model, and asking it questions, in plain English, about what to do next.

The good AI tools today, Claude and ChatGPT in particular, can summarize a 10-K in seconds, compare a stock against its peers, generate a thematic basket around an idea you have, and explain why one of your positions just dropped 8%. What they can't do alone is see your portfolio. That's where Walnut fits in: it's the bridge between your AI tool and your real holdings.

• An AI assistant you already use, Claude (Desktop or web), ChatGPT, or similar.
• A brokerage account at any major US broker (Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, etc.).
• A free Walnut account to connect the two together.

That's it. No spreadsheets, no scraping, no API keys at the broker level, Walnut handles all of that through SnapTrade, a regulated broker-integration provider.

1. Start with an idea

Every good portfolio decision begins with a thesis you can state in one sentence. “AI infrastructure spending will keep accelerating.” “Aging demographics drive healthcare demand.” “Off-price retail wins when consumers tighten budgets.” Open Claude or ChatGPT and have a conversation about your idea. Ask the AI to challenge it, suggest related angles, and produce a list of stocks that fit.

2. Create a free Walnut account

Sign up at walnutinvest.com. No credit card required.

3. Build a basket from the AI's suggestions

A basket in Walnut is a group of stocks that expresses one thesis, with a target weight for each. Paste the AI's suggested tickers and weights into Walnut, or have the AI create the basket directly through the Walnut connection.

4. Connect your brokerage

Click Brokerage in Walnut and link your broker through SnapTrade. Walnut reads your positions and balances, your brokerage credentials never touch Walnut.

5. Connect your AI tool

Generate an API key on the Connections page, paste it into Claude Desktop or ChatGPT. Now the AI can see your real positions when you ask it a question.

6. Invest with confidence

When you're ready, open a basket and click Invest. Walnut shows you exactly which orders would bring your real holdings to match your basket's target weights. Approve, and the orders route to your broker through SnapTrade.

7. Ask your AI assistant anytime

“How is my AI Infrastructure basket doing this week?” “What changed in my portfolio today?” “Suggest a stock that fits my aging-demographics thesis.” Every answer is grounded in your real positions, not generic market commentary.

AI is excellent at synthesis: digesting earnings calls, comparing companies, summarizing news, generating thematic lists. It's reasonable at explanation: telling you why a stock moved or what a metric means.

It's weaker at prediction: don't treat “Claude says NVDA will hit $200” as a forecast. Use AI to expand your idea surface and reduce research friction. Keep judgment, sizing, and the final buy/sell decision in your hands.