Steve Cohen, Chairman and CEO of Point72, speaking to CNBC on April 3, 2024.
CNBC
Billionaire investor Steve Cohen's Point72 plans to launch a separate hedge fund focused on artificial intelligence to capitalize on the boom, according to a person familiar with the company's plans.
The new long/short equity fund, scheduled to launch later this year or in early 2025, will focus on AI and AI-related hardware, the person said.
The company is targeting $1 billion, with Cohen himself and Point72 employees contributing, the person added. This standalone public stock offering will take place outside the main fund due to the need for more flexible net participation, the person said.
Point72 declined to comment. Bloomberg News first reported on the possible offer on Tuesday.
Cohen recently came out as a long-term AI bull, calling AI a “really sustainable theme” for investment and comparing its rise to technological developments in the 1990s.
The massive rise in AI-related stocks such as NVIDIA has driven the broader market to record highs this year. The chipmaker giant has surpassed a $3 trillion market cap amid growing enthusiasm, while every stock even remotely related to AI has seen its value soar.
“I don't see this as a bubble. I think the markets are discounting some of what we … think AI will do for enterprises,” the Point72 founder said in a CNBC interview in April.
The Mets owner emphasized the role of AI in increasing productivity in virtually any business. Cohen said his investment firm found a way to save $25 million by using large language models like ChatGPT to improve efficiency.
Point72 had nearly $34 billion in assets under management in April.