{"id":658390,"date":"2026-05-09T15:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T15:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/658390\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T15:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T15:19:14","slug":"at-the-milken-conference-a-dealmakers-playground-exuberance-and-unease-about-ai-dwarf-all-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/658390\/","title":{"rendered":"At the Milken conference, a dealmakers\u2019 playground, exuberance and unease about AI dwarf all else"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Nvidia founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, speaks during the 29th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, May 4.PATRICK T. FALLON\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

It takes a lot to cloud the rays of confidence brimming from every ballroom and hotel suite at the Milken Institute\u2019s Global Conference in Beverly Hills. <\/p>\n

But the main wellspring of enthusiasm<\/a> at this year\u2019s gathering – the vast, disruptive potential of artificial intelligence, and the equally massive amounts of fee-bearing capital needed to build it – also had some of the world\u2019s most influential chief executive officers shifting uncomfortably in their onstage armchairs.<\/p>\n

The throng of thousands of visitors who descended on the Beverly Hilton and Waldorf Astoria hotels from Sunday to Wednesday was thick with billionaires, dealmakers and a smattering of celebrities.<\/p>\n

The conference has come to rival the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as the event where the world\u2019s financial power brokers gather to take stock of financial markets and world events. <\/p>\n

A few days at \u201cthe zoo\u201d \u2013 as some senior executives described the Milken conference in private \u2013 is a thrilling but also jarring mix of high-stakes global finance, bullish predictions and conspicuous glamour.<\/p>\n

Opinion: Canada built the foundation of AI. Now let\u2019s own what comes next<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the biggest draws was Nvidia Corp. CEO Jensen Huang, who spoke at 5 pm on Monday. By that time, attendees who ping-pong through a day of hour-long panel discussions and speed-dating-style client meetings are usually looking to catch their breath before the evening dinner circuit. <\/p>\n

Instead, when event staff closed the doors on Mr. Huang\u2019s full-to-capacity fireside chat, a long lineup still snaked through the Beverly Hilton\u2019s lobby, unable to get in. <\/p>\n

(It didn\u2019t help that organizers had put a panel featuring retired superstar athletes Tom Brady and Shaquille O\u2019Neal in the more spacious, chandeliered ballroom down the hall, on the same stage where movie and television stars accept Golden Globe Awards). <\/p>\n

The rush to hear from Mr. Huang, who is at the coal face of the AI<\/a> revolution, showed the thirst to understand what may be coming \u2013 for better and for worse \u2013 even among CEOs who are used to playing an outsized role in shaping world events. <\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody should have AI. It empowers them, it lifts them, it elevates them, it gives them superpowers. Of course, everybody should have it,\u201d Mr. Huang said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy greatest concern is that we scare … all the people that we\u2019re telling these science fiction stories to, to the point where AI is so unpopular in the United States, or people are so afraid of it, they don\u2019t actually engage it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sixteen minutes later, he added: \u201cEverybody\u2019s job will be impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several CEOs joined him in the camp of AI optimists. (\u201cI\u2019m the pragmatist,\u201d Mr. Huang insisted.) <\/p>\n

Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO of US$13.9-trillion asset manager BlackRock Inc., said he thinks the supply of electricity and chips to fuel AI will be so constrained that it will soon be possible to trade futures contracts on compute power.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe we\u2019re moving fast enough. There is not an AI bubble. There is the opposite. We have supply shortages,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Laurence D. Fink, Chairman and CEO of BlackRock.Mike Blake\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Other speakers acknowledged that there are risks to employment and cybersecurity, and the full impact is hard to predict, but said forging ahead is the only option. <\/p>\n

\u201cDo not be nostalgic for the predictable past; embrace the unpredictable, exciting future,\u201d International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva told attendees. The Bulgarian economist said she started a recent pep talk to IMF staff by saying, \u201cAI or die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gary Cohn, the International Business Machines Corp. vice-chairman and former Goldman Sachs banker who led the National Economic Council in the first Trump administration, said AI\u2019s importance to national security and military supremacy dwarfs near-term fears about disruption.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t say, \u2018Well, well, well, it\u2019s going to be bad for the economy, and you know, some people might lose their jobs.\u2019 We have to win at this,\u201d he said Monday. <\/p>\n

But some top executives are genuinely worried about AI\u2019s fallout. Pension fund CEO Marcie Frost, who oversees US$621-billion for 2.3 million members of the California Public Employees\u2019 Retirement System (CalPERS), said she has \u201cpretty grave concerns about disruption of people.\u201d <\/p>\n

Morgan Stanley co-president Daniel Simkowitz said, \u201cthe social issues scare me the most.\u201d He doesn\u2019t buy dire predictions of 20-per-cent unemployment, but if the jobless rate does rise significantly, \u201cwhere\u2019s the demand for the product that is actually being produced dramatically more effectively? And then how does that filter through, around society?\u201d<\/p>\n

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Verizon Communications Inc. CEO Dan Schulman wrestled with the opportunity and risk that AI poses. It feels like \u201cwe\u2019re in the Renaissance era right now. So much is going to happen that will be unbelievable,\u201d he said. Yet he also sees a \u201cdistinct possibility\u201d that unemployment will shoot higher. <\/p>\n

The official theme of the Milken event was \u201cLeading in a New Era.\u201d But none of the CEOs leading this technological wave by pumping billions of dollars into AI quite know what that era will be.<\/p>\n

Out of seeming necessity, a group of leaders who loathe uncertainty are charging toward a void that is eclipsing other headline events of the day, and masking pockets of weakness in the economy.<\/p>\n

The war in Iran was mentioned often, but most speakers suggested it is unlikely to derail the economic boost from building AI data centres, new energy sources and more resilient supply chains. <\/p>\n

Oil prices were rarely mentioned, never mind that the streams of Los Angeles traffic outside are being fuelled by gas that costs more than US$5 per gallon. More than once, however, panelists noted how common Waymo\u2019s driverless electric taxis are in the city.<\/p>\n

Even Persian Gulf investors from the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, who called the war \u201ca crisis point,\u201d expressed optimism that it is a short-lived setback. Qatari Finance Minister Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari said his country has committed US$10-billion to investments since the war began, Doha\u2019s airport is busy again and he expects economic growth to bounce back to 6.6 per cent next year. <\/p>\n

Several CEOs confidently declared that a rattled private credit market, which has had a surge of investors asking for their money back, does not pose a systemic risk to the financial system. The private lending market is still interesting and useful to investors, they said, and will expand despite its growing pains. <\/p>\n

The prevailing undercurrent at Milken is money on the move. The conference happens against a backdrop of palm trees, a few blocks from the luxury boutiques of Rodeo Drive. A single four-day pass can cost US$50,000<\/a> for people who don\u2019t have privileged access.<\/p>\n

Much of the real action happens away from the ballrooms and stages. Executives pinball from one well-appointed hotel suite to the next to shore up relations with clients, pitch their expertise and plant seeds for future deals.<\/p>\n

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Brookfield Corp. CEO Bruce Flatt speaks at the conference, May 5.PATRICK T. FALLON\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Attendees in need of a break were invited to step outside to the Wellness Garden for all-day \u201chealing sessions, meditation and mind-body experiences.\u201d Under a canopy by a faux waterfall, people in sober business suits cuddled puppies and posed for photos at Puppy Playtime. (A sponsor\u2019s sign cheerfully asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s the ROI on belly rubs?\u201d)<\/p>\n

The Milken conference\u2019s hothouse atmosphere for investment and commerce is, to some degree, what Canada\u2019s government hopes to replicate with the Canada Investment Summit, a new event<\/a> scheduled to take place in Toronto in mid-September. (Perhaps without the backing of Michael Milken, the former junk bond king whose prowess in the corporate takeover craze of the 1980s landed him in prison before he made a remarkable reputational comeback, in part by creating the Milken Institute). <\/p>\n

Invitations on the Prime Minister\u2019s letterhead went out to more than 100 CEOs from leading asset managers, sovereign wealth funds and banks.<\/p>\n

A contingent of Canadians made the trip to Milken. Chief investment officers from Maple Eight pension funds, Toronto-based private equity and credit fund CEOs, and investment bankers hustled through hotel lobbies to keep up with packed meeting schedules. <\/p>\n

An invite-only roundtable on Tuesday pitched Canada as a destination for investment. Making the case behind closed doors were Invest in Canada CEO Laurel Broten, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP deal lawyer Walied Soliman and two former ambassadors – Toronto-Dominion Bank vice-chair Frank McKenna and Power Sustainable CEO Bruce Heyman. <\/p>\n

Canada also featured prominently in a panel on the future of North American free trade that featured federal cabinet minister Mary Ng. <\/p>\n

But investors in other sessions mostly said they still see the greatest investment opportunities in the U.S., Asian hubs such as Japan and European countries such as Germany.<\/p>\n

In the cacophony of the Milken conference, it is hard for all but the most boldface names to break through. But one Canadian CEO, Brookfield Corp.\u2019s Bruce Flatt, offered his take. <\/p>\n

He estimated there will be US$10-trillion \u2013 or maybe more \u2013 spent \u201crewiring the world, and that\u2019s probably the most fundamental thing going on,\u201d he said at Tuesday\u2019s opening panel. <\/p>\n

\u201cIs it too much hype? Yes, there\u2019s always too much hype in some different thing. But we\u2019re just rewiring the world, and there\u2019s going to be enormous investment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Nvidia founder and CEO, Jensen Huang, speaks during the 29th annual Milken Institute…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,901,276,277,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-658390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-alberta","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}