At a time when technology and finance are deeply integrated, OpenAI’s acquisition of hardware company IO for $6.5 billion has sparked widespread reverie in the market about the application of AI devices in securities trading scenarios. This article delves into the innovative logic behind this strategic layout and how AI devices fit perfectly with the strategic and exponential trend of wealth management through “intent-driven” services and screenless interaction design.
One of the most high-profile recent deals in the tech world is OpenAI’s $6.5 billion all-stock acquisition of IO, a hardware company founded by former Apple legendary designer Jony Ive.
Behind this largest acquisition in OpenAI’s history lies a disruptive goal: to develop a screenless, permanent AI companion that can sense language and physical environments.
Unlike the current mobile assistants that require active wake-up, this device will understand user needs and achieve “invisible interaction” through ambient computing. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was blunt about this: “We are still in the terminal stage of AI interaction, but we will soon discover new interactive paradigms that go beyond graphical user interfaces. ”
As an observer focusing on the digital and financial field of the securities industry, the author believes that the technological innovation of this strategic layout is reflected in two dimensions:
1. Upgrade the interaction logic: shift from “visual-dependent” operations to “intent-driven” services. The device captures user status and environmental information in real time through multi-modal sensors (microphones, cameras, biometrics), so that financial services are reversed from “people looking for services” to “services looking for people”. As Jony Ive emphasizes: “These devices should not replace mobile phones, but create an almost invisible but always-on smart presence. ”
2. Hardware reconstruction: The leaked product prototype shows that the device has a miniature design similar to the iPod Shuffle, without a built-in screen, and mainly relies on voice interaction and environmental perception. This form naturally fits the essential need of “decision-making first, operation second” in financial trading scenarios – what investors really need is the achievement of investment results, not the transaction process itself.
When applied to the wealth management field, this device will solve the core pain points of traditional trading models:
1. The end of information overload: At present, investors receive hundreds of market information every day, and the decision-making noise far exceeds the effective signal. AI devices automatically filter irrelevant information through environmental intelligence and push only key changes that align with the user’s policy framework.
2. Resolution of transaction friction: The existing process needs to go through multi-step operations such as “unlocking the mobile phone – opening the APP – entering the code – confirming the order”. The AI device supports natural language instruction direct trading: “adjust Tencent’s position to 5% of the portfolio”, and the system automatically splits orders to execute and avoid price shocks.
3. Guarantee of strategy coherence: The device continuously monitors user biodata (heart rate variability, sleep quality, etc.) and automatically freezes high-risk transactions when stress peaks are detected. As the author wrote in “Imagine | What does the brokerage “APP” look like in the AI era? 》Predicted scenario: AI investment advisors may refuse to execute instructions: “Based on your heart rate data last night, this transaction may cause your anxiety level to exceed the standard, and it is recommended to change to fixed investment.” ”
The battlefield of financial services has also been surging recently. The “order splitting algorithm” tool of once exclusive institutional investors is quietly opening up to ordinary investors – Western Securities’ “batch shipping”, GF Securities’ “batch selling”, and Cinda Securities’ “batch trading” function have been launched one after another. These tools intelligently break down large orders into smaller transactions, avoiding market shocks while hiding trading intent.
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Brokerage apps are gradually deploying such “strategy layer” functions, and are actually building “tool agents” for future financial interactions. 《Guide to Hand Rubbing of Intelligent Body of Securities Companies (Practical Chapter-1)》I also discussed with you that the new paradigm of Agent-as-a-Service (AaaS) that the author expects does not yet have a regulatory policy framework or appropriateness management rules, so many long-link functions (especially those related to transactions) can be planned but cannot be implemented. The best way to achieve this is to first make a “smart tool body” for backup, and then combine it into a complete agent one day in the future. Product actions around “strategy” may be more accurate to the future evolution of wealth management from “experience-driven” to “strategic and indexed” system engineering.
This transformation is both catalyzed by technology and strategically guided by the regulatory environment. In 2024, the new “National Nine Articles” will clearly propose for the first time to “establish a fast approval channel for ETFs”, laying the policy cornerstone for indexed investment. This guiding spirit was officially implemented in early 2025 – the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the “Action Plan for Promoting the High-quality Development of Indexed Investment in the Capital Market”, outlining a clear regulatory roadmap. The plan includes three major institutional innovations:
1. Product innovation mechanism: support the development of the “five major financial articles” (science and technology finance/green finance/inclusive finance/pension finance/digital finance) theme index, and encourage the compilation of characteristic indexes that represent strategic directions such as new quality productivity, specialization, and innovation;
2. Approval efficiency revolution: Establish a rapid registration mechanism for stock ETFs, which can be completed within 5 working days in principle, reducing the time cost by 90% compared with the previous average of 45 days;
3. Optimization of operating costs: Exempt the annual fee for ETF listing, promote the reduction of market-making, settlement and other fees, and guide the reduction of large broad-based ETF rates.
The shining point of regulatory wisdom is that through institutional design, “strategies” are concretized into tradable index tools, so that wealth management can be transformed from “craft work” relying on personal ability to quantifiable, replicable and supervisable system engineering.
Financial data service providers are also making a similar layout, and Wind has launched the Alice AI index strategy platform. Claiming to be the world’s first AI platform based on natural language generation index strategy enhancement, it can generate strategies, conduct modeling backtests, export result reports, and continuously iterate with just one sentence. The promotion slogan is: Index strategy research will thus move from “exclusive to experts” to the era of “available to everyone”.
Specific to the securities industry, Guojin Securities’ index business layout is particularly advanced in the securities industry. It has built a complete ecosystem that runs through “underlying infrastructure-middle office tools-client applications”:
1. Infrastructure layer: The self-developed Guojin industry classification system (obtained the national invention patent) is based on the framework of the National Bureau of Statistics, and builds a fine grid of 16 primary industries, 83 secondary industries and 393 tertiary industries, and accurately classifies more than 5,000 A-shares and 244 companies on the Beijing Stock Exchange. This system is not only a “gene pool” for the research and development of strategy indexes, but also open to customers free of charge through the commission app, becoming an inclusive research tool.
2. Product matrix layer: Guojin has formed a strategic index system covering four categories: stocks/bonds/overseas/asset allocation. In the most distinctive 10 strategy index matrix, about 80% of the indexes do not directly benchmark ETFs in the market, such as:
– Digital Economy Series Index: Penetrating tracking of Internet leaders, digital marketing, IT services and other subdivisions
– New Core Asset Index: Combine ESG factors and earnings quality to screen medium- and long-term allocation targets
– Five major article theme indexes: Newly launched policy-responsive tools in 2025, accurately aligning with national strategies such as science and technology finance and green finance
3. Tool inclusive layer: Realize the democratization of the strategy index through the “Talking Finger APP”. This one-stop platform deeply integrates three key features:
– Strategy Workshop: Supports users to build their own indexes based on IFC’s industry classification, such as the “Yangtze River Delta Specialized and New ESG50” portfolio
– Index Co-investment: Convert strategies into a package of orders with one click, solving the allocation problem of ordinary investors
– Community Ecology: Investors exchange practical experiences, forming a positive cycle of strategy iteration
The value of this system lies not only in the output of technology, but also in cultivating customers’ indexing thinking habits – when investors are accustomed to deconstructing the market from an index perspective, the “strategic future” of wealth management has the soil to grow.
How to cultivate investors’ “sense of index” and “sense of strategy”? The simplified version of the innovative operation strategy is presented~
1. Gamified cognitive penetration – making the index “playable”
– Scenario: Add an “Exponential Puzzle” gamification entrance to the top screen of the APP
–Mechanism:
– Users can assemble a complete index by dragging industry sectors (such as new energy vehicles and AI chips).
– Successfully unlock the 3-minute animation interpretation of the index (data visualization + scene story, e.g., “How does the index you spell out seize the dividends of the rise of the Japanese robot industry?) ”）
– Daily List Reward: The top 10 puzzle speed won the “Index Scout” medal and exchanged for the Beijing Stock Exchange Index Constituent Stock Research Toolkit
– Value: Transform abstract industry associations into tactile operations, fostering combinatorial thinking
2. Strategy co-creation laboratory – make strategy “perceptible”
– Feature iterations:
– Launched the “Strategy Microscope” module: Users upload real/demo trading records (e.g., “Dividend Low Volatility Combination”), and AI automatically marks key decision points (“March 12 increases coincide with 2 hours before favorable policies”).
– Launched the “Strategy Pop-up Store”: Limited-time strategy templates (such as “Mother’s Day Special: Women’s Consumption Leading Index Formula”) are available every Wednesday, supporting one-click cloning + parameter fine-tuning
– Activity package:
– “My Index Debut Plan” competition: Users submit their own index logic (e.g., “Pet Economy Index: Pet Medical 40% + Smart Products 30% + Food 30%)”, and the winning strategy will be included in the APP recommendation column and displayed under the title
3. Index life somatosensory plan – make finance “breathable”
– Offline penetration:
– Launched “Index Special” with coffee shops:
– “Digital Economy Cold Brew” = Dark Roasted Beans (IT Service) + Citrus Syrup (Digital Marketing) + Sparkling Water (Internet Platform)
– Scan the QR code on the cup body to trigger the AR perspective of the index constituent stocks in the APP (scan the coffee cup with your mobile phone to view the store distribution of relevant listed companies)
– Data Resonance:
– Access Meituan/Didi and other life data to generate a “Personal Consumption Index”:
For example: “Your March takeaway index outperformed 95% of your peers (consumption frequency ↑30%), it is recommended to pay attention to the anti-inflation attributes of prepared food ETFs”
By transforming indices into actionable game modules, strategies into iterable co-creation products, and financial data into tasteable life symbols, we cultivate the muscle memory of “exponents are the language of decision-making” in a closed loop of experience.
The winners of the future belong to those institutions that are the first to encapsulate professional capabilities into scalable services and guide investors through volatility with temperature. For the first time, ordinary investors really have a toolbox to compete with professional institutions. As for the carrier of “strategy” and “index”, is it a computer, mobile phone or AI hardware? It’s important, but it’s not important.
