INTERAKTIV - «Die Marktschreier rufen die globale Krise aus – und dann passiert nichts», sagt der Präsident des Private-Equity-Riesen Blackstone

Blackstone, a leading private equity firm, is one of the biggest investors in the AI boom. Jonathan Gray, the firm's president and COO, dismisses fears of a bubble and addresses the nervousness of private investors. The sector has injected hundreds of billions into the AI sector, but the firm's business is under pressure due to firm sales, credit defaults, and nervous private investors wanting to pull their money back.

Gray, 56, discussed his views on Open AI's Chat-GPT for Financial Services and explained that they are using AI across the firm, including developing an "AI portfolio manager" that combines historical data and real-time data from their portfolio through AI analysis. However, he emphasized that KI cannot replace the entire private equity business, as human involvement is necessary for negotiations, custom financing, and other complex transactions.

The Blackstone CEO sees AI as a tool to make them better investors, as it can make companies more efficient or enable entirely new business models. He also addressed the concern that the boom in AI might be a bubble, stating that demand for AI is growing rapidly and that limited computing resources, licensing, and financing issues make it difficult to overinvest in AI infrastructure.

Despite the boom, Gray acknowledged that every boom eventually reaches its zenith. He believes that demand far exceeds supply in the AI sector, citing Anthropic's revenue growth of 10 times in the past three to four years as evidence. The main challenge, he added, is securing financing for building data centers, obtaining permits, and acquiring chips and energy.

However, Gray noted that Blackstone has made investments in software companies whose business models might be threatened. He emphasized that the issue extends beyond software companies to various services in the office sector facing pressure. An analogy was drawn to the retail sector in the late 1990s, where many traditional retailers went out of business while others, like Walmart and Costco, thrived.

Gray also discussed the potential disruptions and bankruptcies that could occur in the sector, but he remained optimistic about the overall health of the economy. He stated that current economic conditions are much better than during the 2008/09 financial crisis or the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Blackstone's private equity portfolio showing an 11% growth in revenue for the second quarter.