| Blackstone Inc.'s President Jon Gray said the firm plans to maintain heavy exposure to electricity, defense, and life sciences, arguing that artificial intelligence's expansion from desktop computing into the physical world will drive sustained power demand for decades. Gray said defense spending has become a near-universal priority, with virtually every country investing more in its own resiliency, while life sciences represents an area where Blackstone will "keep doubling down." He said AI's contribution will add to human health despite the risks that dominate current debate. "This technology, which we all rightfully focus on the risks - the benefits to human health are going to be the number one thing that's going to come from it," Gray said at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, adding that significant trial activity will still be required to realize those gains. On India, Gray said his firm plans to deploy more capital because of its young and large population, English-language proficiency, engineering and technology graduates, and a pro-growth government. Also Read | Layoffs Are Rising In Tech, But These Skills Are Helping People Unlock Better Pay ALSO READ | Why Is Indian IT Rallying? TCS Zooms Over 5%, Wipro Climbs More Than 3% | Explained Over the next century, Gray said India "will grow faster than any other major economy in the world." India has been the source of Blackstone's highest private equity returns in the world, Gray said last month, after the firm shifted to take majority or equal-control stakes and focus on sectors including information-technology services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing. Blackstone has rapidly scaled its investments in artificial intelligence and is already seeing the benefits. Nine out of the ten Blackstone portfolio companies that appreciated the most this year were in artificial intelligence, Gray told his investors last month. However, an Indian hospital portfolio company Aster DM Healthcare Ltd., had broken through the global AI frenzy, underscoring Blackstone's conviction that the country still has significant room for growth. ALSO READ | Replying "No" Can Empty Your Bank Account, Here's How You Can Prevent New WhatsApp Scam In the past year, Blackstone has invested in Indian artificial intelligence cloud startup Neysa, Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bengaluru, as well as Federal Bank Ltd. |
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