Blackstone President Jon Gray on Q4 results, state of the AI boom

Summary

Blackstone President and COO Jon Gray joined Squawk Box after Blackstone reported Q4 earnings and revenue beats, $71 billion of quarterly inflows, and $1.27 trillion in AUM. Gray said Blackstone had a record quarter and year, highlighted AI infrastructure investments in data centers, utilities, and electrical equipment, and described the deal environment as improving toward escape velocity. He also cited continued secular inflows into alternatives and said AI adoption remains early, with risks of excess and disruption even as the technology is likely to transform industries.

• Blackstone beat Q4 earnings and revenue; raised $71B in the quarter and $239B for the year; AUM reached $1.27T.
• Jon Gray said AI infrastructure is a major growth engine, including data centers, utility capital, and electrical equipment.
• Compute demand is outpacing compute delivery, which Gray said supports strong returns for Blackstone investors.
• The deal environment is improving, with four H2 IPOs including Medline, and Gray compares it to 2013-14.
• Secular movement toward alternatives continues across insurers, individuals, and institutions.
• Gray says AI adoption is still early and could transform coding, cyber monitoring, legal, marketing, compliance, and summarization.
• He warns that AI-driven disruption and excesses will create risks for some industries and companies.
• The transcript ends as Gray begins discussing agentic AI implications.