Wall Street Heavyweights: "AI Investment Demand Remains Strong; Financing Is No Problem"

Chief executives of major Wall Street financial firms said capital markets will continue to support financing for the global buildout of artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure. Morgan Stanley projected that cumulative investment could reach $15 trillion over the next decade.

AP Yonhap News Agency

At the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Tuesday, November 3, Morgan Stanley CEO Ted Pick projected that the largest hyperscalers could spend $800 billion to $1 trillion annually over the next seven to 12 years.

Using a baseball analogy, Pick said, "We're somewhere around the second inning of a nine-inning game." He added, "$10 trillion to $15 trillion is a very wide range, but it's not an unreasonable amount for the investment needed to build AI infrastructure. This investment will drive advances in AI technology."

Bloomberg reported that Wall Street financial firms are seizing the opportunity to win more advisory and financing mandates amid a surge in AI investment. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are structuring debt and equity transactions for companies, including market leaders.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said capital markets remain receptive to financing as investors assess surging demand for AI and computing power. However, he warned that periods of significant growth in the technology industry rarely unfold smoothly.

Solomon said the main factor limiting the size of deals is not access to funding but the cost of raising it. He added, "There will be robust financing to meet demand."

Pick said he expects investment returns to continue over the long term. He projected that AI-driven productivity gains could raise U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) growth by 0.5 to 0.7 percentage points annually.

Speaking about AI governance, Solomon said Goldman Sachs has operated automated trading platforms for the past 20 years. He stressed that responsibility must ultimately rest with people, not systems.

"Technology developers must be responsible for the technologies they develop, and those who adopt them must also be responsible for how the technologies are used," Solomon said.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.