Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon told CNBC on Monday that financing demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure remains strong despite recent market jitters as investors reassess the risks involving the massive build-out.
Solomon said that his firm has been “very active” in AI capital markets deals over recent weeks, a setup that he expects to continue.
“There’s still very strong demand for investments in the AI infrastructure build and the technology around the growth of AI,” Solomon told CNBC’s Leslie Picker.
Changes in the political environment are among factors that will “create recalibrations and ups and downs, and we’re seeing some of that,” Solomon said. “But I still deeply believe in the long-term trajectory of the power of AI in our economy to drive productivity.”
AI-related stocks, including chipmakers and neocloud providers, have tumbled in recent weeks as investors reassess whether the hundreds of billions of dollars being poured into AI infrastructure will generate good returns.
The selloff, which began before the U.S. midterm elections, intensified after Democrats scored sweeping victories on Tuesday, raising concerns that political opposition could slow the industry’s expansion.
The shifting sentiment comes at a key moment for AI model lab Anthropic, which is preparing for a potential IPO that could become one of the biggest tests yet of public-market appetite for AI companies. Goldman is among the banks leading that IPO process.
“We’ll see, obviously, if this IPO moves forward, how it all plays out,” Solomon said, declining to comment in detail about the IPO. “I would say that the market environment is still pretty constructive.”
Solomon also pushed back against political resistance to data center construction, arguing that the infrastructure is essential to the U.S. economy and that it can be built responsibly.
“We certainly don’t want this infrastructure going to places outside the U.S., which is what will naturally happen because the demand for compute is there,” Solomon said.
