Bank of America goes all in on controversial tech

Banks have been embracing AI recently, despite warnings from the federal government.Regulators have told banks that a new AI model could pose a significant security risk. But not all banks seem to be heeding these warnings, as nearly 70% of banks use AI in their operations, according to The Financial Brand.And now Bank of America has outlined how it plans to further embrace the controversial technology.Banks warned about dangers of new AI techLeaders of the largest U.S. banks, including Bank of America, were warned by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell in early April about the risks of a new AI model from Anthropic, The New York Times reported.The model, called Claude Mythos Preview, could pose a cybersecurity risk to customers’ personal data, government officials said.The new model has not been released to the public. Instead, Anthropic created a private group of tech and bank experts to evaluate the model and prepare accordingly, Reuters noted.World leaders issue warnings on bank cybersecurityOther financial leaders have also warned that Mythos could threaten the world's banking systems, the Financial Times reported.Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, said AI “is a very serious challenge for all of us,” the paper reported.European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has also raised concerns about the new model and supports Anthropic’s decision to restrict the technology, Bloomberg reported. Canadian banks and regulators are also concerned about the new model, CTV news reported.Even Anthropic has issued warnings about its own technology. The AI model has already found thousands of high-severity vulnerabilities in every major operating system and web browser, the company said.“Given the rate of AI progress, it will not be long before such capabilities proliferate, potentially beyond actors who are committed to deploying them safely,” Anthropic stated. “The fallout — for economies, public safety, and national security — could be severe.”Despite these warnings, Bank of America has recently outlined how it plans to fully embrace AI use. Despite government warnings about new AI models, Bank of America is fully embracing AI use. Shutterstock Bank of America increasing controversial tech useBank of America is leading the way on AI use at banks.The bank revealed in 2025 that more than 90% of its employees use AI, American Banker reported. It has a $13.5 billion technology budget, which includes at least $4 bilion for new initiatives like AI, according to Fortune.More bank newsPNC has great news for customers225-year-old major bank closes 16 branches150-year-old bank announces branch closuresThe bank even has a client-facing AI assistant that clocked three billion interactions in 2025, with an average of 58 million interactions per month, Bank of America revealed.During an event at the Semafor World Economy 2026 summit, Bank of America’s Chief Technology and Information Officer Hari Gopalkrishnan outlined ways through which the bank is further embracing AI, BankingDive reported.The main areas where Bank of America has scaled up its AI use are end-to-end process transformation, scale and reuse, governance, and return on investment, Gopalkrishnan said.The bank is “shifting from proofs of concept that were focused on small tasks to actual end-to-end process transformation where you’re going after big opportunities that are going to transform either revenue, client experience or expenses,” he said.The firm rolled out an AI-powered tool for financial advisers in early March to use with clients to help them identify prospects and create meeting summaries, Bank of America shared.And it plans to scale up its AI use, Gopalkrishnan told Banking Dive. But it also plans to focus on governing its use of the technology.“This stuff is very hard to govern,” he said. “If you overdo it, you stall innovation. If you underdo it, you introduce a lot of risk.” Related: Citibank customers get new controversial feature