The US Treasury Just Said NOT Using AI Is Now a Risk to the Economy

Here's something you don't hear every day: the United States Treasury Department just said that NOT using AI is a risk.

Let that sink in. The government isn't warning about the dangers of AI anymore. They're warning about the dangers of not using it.

The Treasury and its new Artificial Intelligence Transformation Office just launched something called the "AI Innovation Series," a public-private initiative to make sure America's financial system keeps up with the AI revolution.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent put it bluntly: "Failure to adopt productivity-enhancing technology is its own risk." Translation: if banks and financial companies don't get on the AI train, they're putting the entire economy in danger.

This is a massive shift. For years, regulators have been focused on the risks of AI - bias, errors, job losses, privacy concerns. Now they're essentially saying the bigger risk is falling behind. They're moving from a "be careful" posture to a "hurry up" posture.

AI is already being used in banking for fraud detection, cybersecurity, credit decisions, and risk management. But the government wants it everywhere, and fast.

For regular people, this means expect AI to be even more deeply woven into your financial life. Your loan applications, your fraud alerts, your investment accounts - all of it is about to get a lot more automated.

As reported by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury