(Bloomberg) – The next time a banker invests in GIC PTE, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, their transactions could be pulled apart by the latest AI tools: the “Agent Devil's Advocate” chatbot, designed to ask difficult questions by the Virtual Investment Committee and the “Agent Devil's Advocate” chatbot.
On Thursday, GIC announced a video demonstration of its latest platform to highlight how AI is changing the way investors trade in Singapore. Approximately an hour after uploading data and background material with the proposed investment, the bot will spit out a detailed summary and example of questions that investment committee members may ask before they give them a green light.
To prepare for pitching to human bosses, GIC staff can also switch to hard mode and switch to “spar with Agent Devils Advocate” (a live chat service named “Ask Charlie” that simulates conversations and asks curveball questions as real committee members do).
To build an in-house AI platform for internal use, GIC has customized several large language models and customized the input lame of unique data collected from 40 years of transactions around the world.
“We've been around since 1981, so we have 44 years of data,” said Brianyo, Chief Investment Officer of GIC Group. “The data, which spans different asset classes across different regions through our investments and transactions, is actually the competitiveness we have.”
GIC is part of a growing cohort of investment companies' races to use AI to transform businesses and strengthen returns. Companies, including General Atlantic and Blackstone Inc., are promoting development while one day trying to support Outshine Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.
And while GIC's AI demonstrations can be brushed as unused steam engines when shown at Silicon Valley startups, few people match the weight and access of the fund.
Read: Singapore's careful wealth fund takes more private market risks
Even the fake deals used in the demo were codenamed “Project Blue Sky” and were quiet bends in the size of GIC. The $50 billion privatization of the unnamed airline will receive $30 billion from GIC and its co-investors and $20 billion of loans, with a planned exit within seven years. This was not a stretch for the fund that was part of a €6.7 billion ($7.8 billion) deal last week, but helped close Store Capital Corp.'s $14 billion take private deal in 2023.
The company's internal team uses a large language model – which did Yeo refuse to say – developed an agent persona living on the Virtual Investment Committee. Three examples include risk managers, reverse investors and optimistic investors. Agent AI systems can operate independently with less human supervision than generative AI.
The trading team is already using the service. This is currently limited to asking questions rather than making final judgments about the transaction. However, chatbots that provide difficult questions have already proven to be popular with top GIC leaders.
CEO Lim Chow Kiat said his most interesting interaction with AI agents came from asking questions that stimulate his thinking. He also repeats the same question multiple times to see how the response changes and better understand the inference process.
“We have another type of research tool called a research assistant. I use it as a colleague you have before and after,” he said.
Additionally, GIC purchases shares in external AI companies, particularly in the US.
“Trends like AI benefit the US the most,” Lim said because they have so many companies that can take advantage of it.
GIC invests in three types of AI companies. An enabler to build infrastructure for the sector. Monetisers often create and sell AI-infused products and services in the form of startups. Employers using AI to improve the efficiency of their core businesses.
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