Chinese quant firm Goku expands into AI for science

Goku Technologies, a Shanghai-based quantitative trading firm managing over 15 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) in assets, is expanding beyond finance into AI.

The company recently launched a new AI-focused subsidiary, Shanghai AllMind Artificial Intelligence Technology.

According to CEO Wang Xiao, Goku aims to leverage AI to solve broader scientific challenges rather than compete in the consumer AI market.

Since 2017, Goku has been involved in AI research, with a focus on model training and integration into trading and scientific discovery.

AllMind’s infrastructure, originally developed for financial data, is now applied to fields like materials science, chemistry, and biology.

The firm collaborated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to submit a research paper to NeurIPS, proposing a new AI training method that reportedly outperforms existing techniques.

🔗 Source: South China Morning Post

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Quantitative funds’ evolution into AI research follows historical pattern

Goku’s expansion from quantitative trading to AI research reflects a natural progression within the financial industry, which has a decades-long history with artificial intelligence.

The financial sector was among the earliest adopters of AI, with documented interests dating back to the 1950s when institutions began exploring automation for accounting and banking operations 1.

This relationship has been cyclical, with the 1980s seeing significant investments in expert systems for market predictions, followed by periods of disappointment when early AI applications failed to meet expectations 1.

Modern quantitative funds like Goku are particularly well-positioned for AI research because they’ve already built sophisticated data infrastructure and algorithmic expertise for trading, which is the same foundation needed for advanced AI development.

This evolution mirrors broader industry trends where machine learning is increasingly reshaping quantitative investing by expanding analytical capabilities beyond traditional methods 2.

2️⃣ China’s strategic AI push leverages financial sector expertise

Goku’s AI initiative represents part of a larger national strategy in China, where significant resources are being directed toward artificial intelligence development across multiple sectors.