Robinhood Markets announced on Monday its acquisition of Pluto Capital, an artificial intelligence-powered investment platform. This move aligns Robinhood with top technology companies integrating AI into their products and services. The acquisition aims to enhance Robinhood’s offerings, providing investors with advanced data analysis, personalized investment strategies, real-time insights, and portfolio optimization.

The adoption of generative AI, which mimics human-like interactions by processing vast data, is rapidly transforming industries. For Robinhood, based in Menlo Park, California, this acquisition is a strategic step to leverage AI’s potential and improve user experience on its trading platform.

Robinhood’s platform has recently experienced a resurgence in trading activity. This comes after a period of reduced engagement due to higher interest rates and market volatility, which made investors more risk-averse. The company gained significant popularity during the retail trading boom of 2021, when it became the go-to platform for retail investors investing in “meme stocks” during the pandemic lockdowns.

In its quest to evolve into a comprehensive financial services provider, Robinhood has been expanding its portfolio through acquisitions and new product launches. Last month, it announced its largest deal yet, the $200 million cash acquisition of crypto exchange Bitstamp.

As part of the Pluto Capital deal, Pluto’s founder and CEO, Jacob Sansbury, will join Robinhood. Sansbury will focus on expanding and accelerating Robinhood’s AI-driven offerings. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Robinhood’s shares were down 0.6% in choppy trading following the announcement.

With this acquisition, Robinhood aims to solidify its position in the financial services market, offering cutting-edge AI tools to its users and enhancing its platform’s capabilities.

Source: Reuters