Artificial intelligence is set to usher in a new wave of entrepreneurship by eroding the competitive advantages of established companies, according to a report by Hedge Fund Alpha citing comments by Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin.
Speaking at Goldman Sachs’ Apex Symposium Griffin also warned that any disruption to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry would have severe consequences for the global economy.
Griffin said AI is already transforming how work is carried out inside his $68bn multi-strategy hedge fund, dramatically increasing productivity without reducing headcount.
Griffin said Citadel has developed an agentic AI system capable of replicating and validating academic finance research in just two to three hours, a task that previously required six to eight weeks of work by master’s and PhD-level researchers.
The technology enables the firm to reproduce published academic papers, test whether their conclusions hold under different market conditions and evaluate potential investment insights far more quickly than traditional research methods.
Despite the significant productivity gains, Griffin said Citadel has not reduced staffing levels, arguing that AI allows investment professionals to pursue more opportunities rather than replace them.
Instead, he believes the technology will lower barriers to entry across many industries, creating what he described as a “golden age” for entrepreneurs as incumbent companies find it harder to maintain competitive advantages.
For hedge funds, the rapid adoption of AI is expected to intensify competition as sophisticated research capabilities become more widely available, placing greater emphasis on speed, data and execution rather than simply access to information.
Alongside AI, Griffin devoted considerable attention to geopolitical risks, describing Taiwan as one of the world’s most significant economic vulnerabilities.
He warned that any loss of access to Taiwanese semiconductor production would have an immediate and profound impact on the US economy, citing estimates that US GDP could contract by around 8% within six months if chip supplies were disrupted.
