ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood Talks AI Use in Warfare

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks: ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood Talks AI Use in Warfare

Date: March 18, 2026
Host: Bloomberg Interviewer
Guest: Cathie Wood, CEO & CIO, ARK Invest

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Episode Overview

This episode features an insightful conversation with Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, focusing on three main areas: the ongoing impact of the Iran war on markets, the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in warfare, and the explosive growth within the AI industry. Wood shares her perspectives on market trends, Federal Reserve decisions, ethical considerations in military technology, and the transformative effect of AI on productivity and business operations.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. War in the Middle East: Market Impact and Historic Parallels

[01:13 – 02:05]

• Market Resilience Amid Conflict:
  Cathie Wood draws comparisons between the current "wall of worry" created by the Iran war and similar periods during the bull markets of the 1980s and 1990s.

• Long-term Optimism:
  Historically, markets have weathered crises—wars, inflation, economic shocks—yet continued upward. Wood signals that current conditions mirror those resilient eras.

  "The Iran war is placing more bricks into the wall of worry that this bull market is climbing...for the rest of that bull market it was one worry after the other...but the market did continue to climb that wall of worry. And I do believe that we are in the same kind of bull market."
  —Cathie Wood [01:13]

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2. Inflation, Fed Decisions, and Market Outlook

[02:05 – 03:30]

• Fed Rate Cuts Unlikely:
  Wood believes a rate cut is improbable at the upcoming Fed meeting, pointing to a recent uptick in the core personal consumption deflator (3.1% YoY).

• Alternative Inflation Metrics:
  ARK Invest also monitors "truflation" (a real-time, blockchain-based measure tracking 10,000 goods/services). It peaked at 11–12% during COVID (vs. 9% for CPI) and now sits at 1.5%, suggesting CPI could drop below 2–3% by year-end with consistent trends.

• Energy Prices as a Wildcard:
  She acknowledges that energy fluctuations could influence both truflation and traditional inflation.

  "I don't think they're going to cut at this one. And one of the reasons is the core personal consumption deflator ticked back up...We watch another measure called truflation...That measure of inflation is at one and a half..."
  —Cathie Wood [02:16]

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3. Artificial Intelligence in Modern Warfare: Ethics & Efficiency

[03:30 – 05:12]

• Ethical Complexity:
  Wood describes the limits of her expertise on the ethics of AI in war but sees positives if AI helps limit war duration and civilian casualties.

  "If AI is limiting wartime because targets are hit directly and quickly and you know the war is over much more quickly...we are saving a lot of lives, certainly American lives."
  —Cathie Wood [03:50]

• AI's Strategic Value:
  She suggests military and intelligence agencies value AI for its potential to shorten conflicts and minimize broader destruction.

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4. Explosive Growth of AI Industry and Productivity Tools

[05:12 – 07:57]

• Revenue Growth in LLM Companies:
  Cathie Wood details rapid revenue acceleration among AI companies:

  • Anthropic: Jumped from a $9B to a $19B annual run rate in just months.
  • OpenAI: Grew from $20B to $25B in a similar timeframe.

• Willingness to Pay:
  Businesses, including ARK Invest, are paying premium prices for AI services ($200–$2,000/month per seat) due to their high impact on productivity.

• Practical Impact on Research:
  AI tools have reduced task times from months to days, fundamentally reshaping research workflows and enabling innovation across departments.

• In-House AI Adoption:
  Employees from across ARK demonstrate AI-driven breakthroughs in daily business meetings, highlighting the unprecedented nature of current advancements.

  "The impact on productivity of these tools is astonishing. More and more people are willing to pay not just $20 a month, but...$200 a month for the many seats that we have on OpenAI and Anthropic...We would not be hiring another research associate. We would be engaging these large language models to help us with our research. And it's the results we are getting...are astonishing..."
  —Cathie Wood [05:41]

  "They're taking us places where, you know, we—it probably would have taken us, I'm going to say months before and now we can do it in days."
  —Cathie Wood [07:18]

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Memorable Moments & Notable Quotes

• On Historic Bull Markets and Today’s Uncertainty:
  "It was one worry after the other...but the market did continue to climb that wall of worry."
  —Cathie Wood [01:24]
• On Truflation vs. Official CPI:
  "It has tended to lead the CPI. Right now...it's gone from...lower than 1% to 1.5%. If...this is as high as it goes, I think the CPI by the end of this year will resolve below that 2 to 3% range."
  —Cathie Wood [02:45]
• On AI’s Value in Warfare:
  "If it, if AI helps bring wars to an end much more quickly than they have ended historically, I think everyone would agree that that's a good thing."
  —Cathie Wood [04:36]
• On AI-Driven Productivity:
  "The results we're getting are astonishing and many times we have...all the breakthroughs during our morning meeting."
  —Cathie Wood [06:14]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |-------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:13 | Cathie Wood on "wall of worry" and bull market resilience | | 02:16 | Inflation, Rate Cuts, and Truflation explained | | 03:50 | Limits and ethics of AI in modern warfare | | 05:41 | Revenue growth and adoption of AI large language models | | 06:14 | Concrete examples of AI boosting research and productivity |

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Summary:
Cathie Wood remains upbeat about market resilience in the face of geopolitical risk, sees AI as an ethically complex but potentially life-saving tool in warfare, and is extremely bullish on AI’s transformative effect on business operations and industry revenue. Her commentary provides a compelling snapshot of both Wall Street and Silicon Valley mindsets in 2026.

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Transcript

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[Cathie Wood]

Bloomberg Audio Studios

[Chase Business Representative]

Podcasts Radio news well, despite the ongoing

[Interviewer]

war, global stocks are rallying for a third day as investors seek signs of stability. We've been discussing the market reaction with Cathie Wood, the founder, CEO and CIO of Ark Invest. The prominent tech investor also gave us her view on the use of artificial intellig in warfare. In this part of the conversation, Cathie Wood tells us why she thinks the situation in the Middle east is a short term issue for markets.

[Cathie Wood]

The Iran war is placing more bricks into the wall of worry that this bull market is climbing. In the 80s and 90s, which were the golden age for active equity management, it was the same kind of situation there were all along the way until 1999, 1999, no one seemed to have any fears about anything anymore. But for the rest of that bull market it was one worry after the other. It was inflation, it was the SNL crisis, it was the several wars. So but the market did continue to climb that wall of worry. And I do believe that we are in the same kind of bull market

[Interviewer]

now in terms of the short term, then the rate decisions, central bank decisions this week. How many cuts do you expect from the Fed given the war, the worries around inflation?

[Cathie Wood]

Well I don't think they're going to cut at this one. And one of the reasons is the the core personal consumption deflator ticked back up on a year over year basis to 3.1% inflation and that is one of the primary inflation measures. They we watch another measure called truflation and it's blockchain based. It's 10,000 items, goods and services monitored 24,7. That measure of inflation is at one and a half. And it's interesting, during COVID it peaked at 11 to 12% whereas the CPI peaked at 9%. And it has tended to lead the CPI. Right now we do have energy prices probably an upward downward pressure, but that is true for true inflation as well. So it's gone from it was lower than 1% to 1.5%. If that's, if this is as high as it goes, I think the CPI by the end of this year will resolve below, below that 2 to 3% range.

[Interviewer]

In terms of the war and your investments, do you think that there should be limits to how the US uses AI in war? I know that you were talking earlier about the use of drone technology and your own experiences of understanding how drone technology is used by these cutting edge businesses.

[Cathie Wood]

Yes, I think this is a question probably beyond my ken, but I would say if AI is limiting wartime because targets are hit directly and quickly and you know the war is over much more quickly than it might have been in the past, you know, I'm sure that the generals out there are saying we are savingwe are saving a lot of livescertainly American lives, unfortunately. And you know, when Americans do go into war zones where there are civilians, they always warrant civilians to clear out. I think that has been the case for civilian parts of, of economies in Iran. So, you know, it's, this is, this is maybe a little bit beyond my investment orientation, but if, if it, if AI helps bring wars to an end much more quickly than, than they have ended historically, I think everyone would agree that' thing.

[Interviewer]

Just tell me broadly about where your expectation is now for your own investments by the end of the year. How optimistic are you about growth in the industry? I mean, you know, we've just been talking about Nvidia or hearing from Nvidia that they want $1 trillion worth of sales over the next couple of years. And some people don't see that actually as very big. But there has been such growth in the industry. How optimistic are you about this year?

[Cathie Wood]

Well, we monitor rev the revenue run rate. So you look at the revenues per month for some of these large language model companies and we're astonished at what's happening. Anthropic, for example, was at a 9 billion revenue run rate in December and it's already up to 19 billion. So really justifying the investment that, that they're undertaking. Open air has gone from 20 to 25. This is in the span of a little more than two months. So I think what that's telling us is the impact on productivity of these tools is astonishing. And more and more people are willing to pay not just $20 a month, but in our case, $200 a month for the many seats that we have on OpenAI and anthropic. And we're even getting to the point where we can see justification for 2000 dol a month. And what that means is we would not be hiring another research associate. We would be engaging these large language models to help us with our research. And it's the results we are getting and we use both Palantir and all of the large language models. The results we're getting are astonishing and many times we have we showcase all the breakthroughs during our morning meeting. Meeting. It's just a 15 minute business meeting but on many days we're now having people from all parts of the organization, you know, show and tell, show what they're doing with AI that they could have never done before. They just couldn't do it before in terms of the kinds of tables and graphs and you know, iterations on some kind of idea that we're throwing out there. They're taking us places where, you know, we, it probably would have taken us, I'm going to say months before and now we can do it in days.

[Interviewer]

So that was Cathie Wood of Ark Invest.

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