There's no beating about the bush: It's been a trying year for investors. The combination of historically high inflation, a weakening U.S. economy, and heightened geopolitical tensions (e.g., Ukraine war), pushed both the broad-based S&P 500 and technology-centric Nasdaq Composite firmly into a bear market.

However, you wouldn't know the stock market is suffering through one of its worst years in decades by the actions of Wall Street's most-successful investors. Instead of retreating to the sideline, billionaire money managers have been actively buying stocks as the market dips. In particular, billionaires have really taken a liking to tech stocks focused on forward-looking innovation.

What follows are four next-generation tech stocks billionaires simply can't stop buying.

Image source: Getty Images.

Upstart Holdings

The first innovative powerhouse that at least one billionaire money manager can't stop purchasing is cloud-based lending platform Upstart Holdings. During the second quarter, billionaire Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management acquired roughly 2.36 million shares.

What puts Upstart on the leading edge of its industry is its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to vet loan applications. Rather than rely on the traditional (and slow) loan-vetting process, Upstart leans on predictive technologies and previously vetted loan data to approve and fully automate nearly three-quarters of all loans its processes. This saves the six dozen financial institutions Upstart has partnered with time and money.

However, what stands out even more about Upstart is the broader pool of applicants being approved. The typical loan applicant to gain approval with Upstart has a lower average credit score than the those approved with the traditional vetting process. Yet, delinquency rates between Upstart's AI-based process and the traditional vetting process have been similar. The implication here is that Upstart can expand the potential pool of borrowers for banks and credit unions without adversely impacting their credit-risk profile.