☕️ Bridgewater’s AI investor

Poker pro Greg Jensen in $3b AI dream

Good morning.

Hedge fund titan Bridgewater is betting US$2b ($2.9b) of its client’s money on generative AI outwitting the market. Greg Jensen, the poker-playing investment savant leading Bridewater’s new fund, says the firm spent over a year merging its proprietary systems “based on human intuition” with the AI wizardry of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity.

Forget your run-of-the-mill quant fund. Jensen told Bloomberg the new fund, which has half a dozen investors, is using machine intelligence to generate alpha, with some guidance from humans to ensure hallucinations are filtered out.

“Having machine learning generate the ideas… that’s been kind of a dream for me,” he said. “Language models off the shelf have many problems, but if you can combine them with data models, you can create this incredible strength.”

ASX as at market close. Commodities and crypto in USD.

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Market movers

Red 5 shares sparkled on Monday, rising 5% to $0.39 after the company proudly announced the repayment of its King of the Hills project debt.

With a 113.16% surge over the past year and preliminary sales of 110,818 ounces of gold for the quarter, its performance is nothing short of impressive.

The quick sync

  • Australia's top tier law firms are rushing to adopt AI - but to what end? (Capital Brief)

  • Risks from AI deepfakes are growing, says Zscaler founder Jay Chaudhry, whose voice was used to scam his own staff. (Capital Brief)

  • Hackers target Aussie airport Wi-Fi with $20 device, as Zimperium urges Australians to think again after scores of attacks across the country. (The Australian)

  • The Maple-Brown brothers didn’t originally plan to join their famous father investment boutique, but after building their own funds management careers, they changed their minds. (Capital Brief)

  • Many Australians are flocking to the Middle East, attracted by the sovereign wealth boom and pay rises of up to 70% (AFR)

Trading floor

M&A

  • Paramount Global and David Ellison's Skydance Media have agreed to merge, with David Ellison set to lead the combined company after negotiations resumed and a valuation adjustment was made. (Capital Brief)

  • Wayne Swan, chair of Diatreme Resources, led a takeover of Metallica, acquiring a 71.2% stake, sparking concerns over minority shareholder treatment. (The Australian)

  • Barrenjoey seeks $182m to acquire a 10% stake in Orora and push for changes within the company. (AFR)

  • Mayfield Childcare has acquired Precious Cargo, a Montessori early education provider, for $4.8m. (BNA)

  • HMC Capital is acquiring a majority stake in StorEnergy, a Victoria-based battery energy storage developer. (Capital Brief)

  • RBC Capital Markets is assisting the NSW Government in a major toll roads shake-up, indirectly challenging Transurban's dominance. (AFR)

  • The Australian Takeovers Panel denied Ramelius Resources' request concerning Westgold's takeover of Karora, stating the termination fee does not raise anti-competitive issues. (Capital Brief)

  • Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners is selling its Australian energy business, which is expected to draw significant attention from dealmakers. (AFR)

  • Just Wines has acquired Beer Cartel and its gifting spin-off Brewquets. (Startup Daily)

  • Rex Minerals' shares surged after MACH Metals Australia, a Salim Group subsidiary, made a takeover offer. (Capital Brief)

  • Hanwha's vice-chairman Dong Kwan Kim was approached internally to acquire a stake in Austal, but declined, suggesting a hostile takeover bid is unlikely. (The Australian)

Capital Markets

  • Wickhams Hill hedge fund believes Chemist Warehouse will pursue a traditional IPO instead of merging with Sigma Healthcare, amid regulator concerns. (AFR)

  • EVOS, supported by Ampol, raises $4m to expand electric vehicle charger production amid global demand. (BNA)

  • Dateline Resources aims to raise $5.8m for its Colosseum project in California. (SMH)

VC

  • Caesars Entertainment has acquired Brisbane sports wagering tech startup ZeroFlucs. (BNA)

People moves

  • Alvarez & Marsal hires former PwC partner Brett Duell for its growing transaction services business in Australia. (AFR)

  • Pedestrian Group, owned by Nine, undergoes a major restructure led by CEO Matt Rowley's departure and up to 40 job cuts. (SMH)

☝️ Know about a deal or people move we don’t? Hit reply.

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