Bank of America’s Moynihan says economic benefits of AI ‘are becoming more evident’

“Investment in AI has grown over the year and will likely be a larger contributor next year and beyond,” Moynihan said Monday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “AI is coming into play more and more, so not everything is attributable to AI, but it has a pretty strong marginal impact.”

Moynihan, who has led the bank for nearly 15 years, said the company predicts a strong U.S. economy next year, with expected growth of 2.4%, up from about 2% in 2025. Although the job market has started to weaken, it appears to be more of a normalization of employment, Moynihan said.

AI companies, including OpenAI, have been pulling billions of dollars in funds in recent months as investors are eager to bet on the industry. But leaders like Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos warned that AI spending constitutes an “industry bubble” that could lead to a loss of investment, but will ultimately help society.

Moynihan said his bank sees relatively limited risk to the economy — including impact on consumers and job losses — if the AI ​​industry becomes too overheated and has to exit, given that the sector is made up of a select group of companies.

“As a lender, we look at the leverage on these projects and make sure we’re comfortable with that and the length of the contract of the person who’s going to commit to using the data center,” Moynihan said.

The bank itself also uses artificial intelligence, he said in the interview. The company spear Erica, her bot agent, in 2018. Now Erica can answer 700 questions, up from 200, Moynihan said.

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“We will apply more and more automated intelligence – or augmented intelligence, as we call it, with a person using AI, using it to be more efficient – ​​and that will affect every business,” Moynihan said.