Legendary investor Bill Ackman discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on his investment strategy and the broader market in a recent interview on "The Knowledge Podcast." Ackman, the CEO of Pershing Square, noted that the rapid advancement of AI has fundamentally altered his approach to evaluating potential investments.
Speaking about his investment philosophy, Ackman stated that he looks for companies where he would be comfortable owning a stake even if the stock market were to shut down for 10 years. He emphasized the importance of analyzing a company's revenue and projecting what the business will look like 10 or 20 years into the future. According to Ackman, AI has "massively increased the risk of disruption" for many businesses.
The investor highlighted that he must now be more cautious when assessing the "moats" of companies and how wide they are, acknowledging that some businesses may disappear entirely as a result of AI advancements. Conversely, Ackman admitted that AI also presents significant opportunities. He noted that the pace of improvement is the fastest he has ever seen, allowing people who were not entrepreneurs before to create businesses that previously could not exist.
Ackman mentioned that Pershing Square utilizes AI for its investment research. He also pointed to specific developments in the sector, such as the recent launch of the Muse AI agent from Meta, which he noted the firm's office staff had tested and found to be user-friendly for creating agents.
In terms of his portfolio, Ackman identified Brookfield Corp (NYSE: BN) as an "AI winner for sure." He also highlighted his continued investment in the "Magnificent Seven" stocks, specifically Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT), Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META), and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN).
