I disagree, I see the rich’s approach to AI as a prayer for a way to beat unpredictability.
The degree to which they fantasize about being able to quantify previously unsolvable problems makes it pretty clear that the end game is AI stock trading.
They want to be able to leave the game, really end the game, to consolidate all trading power into their hands, and in doing so, consolidate the absolute power to pick winners, because once everyone knows you have a winner finding AI, they’ll assume any trade you make will be based on that AI, and ergo, guaranteed to return big.