Goldman Sachs asset arm forms AI investing platform, memo shows

NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Asset Management has launched an artificial intelligence investing platform, AlphaAI, betting that AI will become an important driver of investment returns across its public and private market businesses.

Lou D'Ambrosio will lead AlphaAI, as chairman of Artificial Intelligence for Asset Management, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

"We believe AI is both reshaping industries and acting as a force multiplier in how we invest," said Marc Nachmann, global head of Goldman's asset and wealth management arm, in the memo.

D'Ambrosio led the Value Accelerator, which he founded in 2018, chairs the firm's AI Investing Leadership Council, and previously served as CEO of both private and public companies.

"We expect AI to drive greater dispersion within sectors, not just across them, and that isn’t necessarily reflected in prices," D'Ambrosio told Reuters in an email.

"AlphaAI is built to find it, drawing on what we see across the breadth of our public and private markets business, and what we’re learning inside our portfolio companies — where we already have over 100 scaled AI use cases," he said.

Darius Adamczyk, who has co-led the Value Accelerator, which helps portfolio companies grow and create value by using the Goldman Sachs network, will assume global leadership of the business, the memo said.

"Over nine years we’ve embedded more than 100 operating executives directly into our investment process, and the job now is to continue to add process, talent and execution rigor as we partner with strong management teams to drive growth, expand margins, and build great companies," Adamczyk said.

Exchange-traded funds focused on AI are proliferating, even while it remains unclear which companies will emerge as the long-term winners from the latest technology revolution.

Funds and ETFs domiciled in the U.S. investing in the AI theme manage a total of $40.5 billion, according to data from Morningstar.

Defiance Quantum ETF, which manages $4.88 billion and focuses on quantum computing, machine learning, and enabling technologies, is among the largest funds.

(Reporting by Saeed AzharEditing by Rod Nickel)