The Next Phase of the AI Buildout

**Tim Stenovec** (0:02)
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio, News.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:07)
You're listening to Bloomberg Businessweek with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio.

**Carol Massar** (0:14)
All right, we do have a lot to talk about with Dan Ives. There is a lot to talk, CerebrSystems just reporting falling 8%, second quarter revenue disappoints. Core weaves surging after the AI spending frenzy spurred faster sales growth than anticipated, with sales expected to be 3.45 billion to 3.6 billion in the third quarter. We've got with us for the next half hour or so, Dan Ives. He's Partner and Senior Managing Director at Yorkville Ives. It's the first time I've read that title for you, Dan, because for so long we knew you at Wedbush, and we knew you as what many people called a tech permable. I want to get to your outlook on not just this earning season and what to expect from Nvidia and the so-called circular financing. But before we do that, because we haven't had a chance to sit down with you since this job changed, I want to just hear from you why you left Wedbush and what you're doing now at Yorkville Ives.

**Dan Ives** (1:05)
Yeah. For me, it was a great eight years at Wedbush, but it was to create what I view as like a modern merchant bank. Really something where when I think about this fourth industrial revolution, and for my going in Wall Street since late 90s, it was seen around corners and seeing the opportunity. I just felt like for me it was an evolution of my career for something that to build a bank and especially have great research that's focused on tech, energy, and really across industries.
I found great partners in Yorkville, and to me, it was the right place, right time to do something like this, given my view of the AI revolution.

**Carol Massar** (1:48)
Well, I want to get to more on that, and we're going to get to the AI revolution. But we spoke to you at Future Proof, where you'll be there again this year, since September of last year. I remember the conversation because it was not just about what you were doing at Wedbush, but it was about the ETF that you had launched. You were also chairman at the time of WorldCoin, this crypto project.

**Dan Ives** (2:07)
Or ACO.

**Carol Massar** (2:08)
Yeah. Oh, ACO, thank you, which is part of, which was?

**Dan Ives** (2:11)
Yeah, which was related to WorldCoin.

**Carol Massar** (2:13)
Okay, related to WorldCoin. So what is the status of those projects now?

**Dan Ives** (2:17)
Yeah, so that, so in terms of like, I left ACO.

**Carol Massar** (2:22)
Yeah, but what about the ETF?

**Dan Ives** (2:23)
Yeah, and that, there's been no change in terms of that. And that's something where for me, look, it was sort of like simplifying, I think some of my other activities. And really to me, it was really doubling down to some extent on what people know me as in terms of when it comes to tech, when it comes to great research. And I think around the world, so many more investors have such a focus in tech. And it's something where to try to be some guiding light relative to a lot of the confusion that you see in the market.

**Tim Stenovec** (2:59)
What can you do now that you couldn't do before?

**Dan Ives** (3:04)
I mean, we're still awaiting our research license. But for now, this is like when it's all sort of built, it will be something that it will be exactly the same Dan Ives' research and what we've done for investors over the decades.
And that's really why we build it. But also for me, it's finding the right people that wanna do things when it comes to innovation, when it comes to building, whether it's on the research side or across the industry. And I just think right now, we're going through an innovation boom. And in my career, it's really been an evolution. For me, it was a natural next step. And I've been super excited about the feedback that we've gotten and just from many around the world.

**Tim Stenovec** (3:52)
We have seen a lot of innovation cycles and you have been along for that ride. And I'm just curious how you continue to put this particular cycle in its place and in its spot. And how much do we really know about the ultimate impact?

**Dan Ives** (4:07)
I mean, as someone like myself, I've spent so much time in Asia, so much time talking to CEOs, CIOs that's done this since the late 90s. This is the true fourth industrial revolution. And we've talked about it with you guys for many years. And that's why I think a lot of times like the skeptics or the bears, they're bearish from the 15th floor, their New York City office building or wherever it may be. But they're not in fabs in Taiwan. They're not seeing the demand. And the reality is, for the first time in 30 years, the US is ahead of China when it comes to tech.