1) June 6 [press release] -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) released a request for information on the Uses, Opportunities, and Risks of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Financial Services Sector. Building on Treasury’s recent work on cybersecurity and fraud in AI and recent initiatives by other federal agencies, Treasury is seeking public comment on the uses of AI in the financial services sector and the opportunities and risks presented by developments and applications of AI within the sector.
“Treasury is proud to be playing a key role in spurring responsible innovation, especially in relation to AI and financial institutions. Our ongoing stakeholder engagement allows us to improve our understanding of AI in financial services,” said Under Secretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang. “The Biden Administration is committed to fostering innovation in the financial sector while ensuring that we protect consumers, investors, and our financial system from risks that new technologies pose.”
Through this RFI, Treasury seeks to increase its understanding of how AI is being used within the financial services sector and the opportunities and risks presented by developments and applications of AI within the sector, including potential obstacles for facilitating responsible use of AI within financial institutions, the extent of impact on consumers, investors, financial institutions, businesses, regulators, end-users, and any other entity impacted by financial institutions’ use of AI, and recommendations for enhancements to legislative, regulatory, and supervisory frameworks applicable to AI in financial services. Treasury is seeking a broad range of perspectives on this topic and is particularly interested in understanding how AI innovations can help promote a financial system that delivers inclusive and equitable access to financial services.
Members of the public are encouraged to submit comments within 60 days [from publication in the Federal Register]. Comments responding to this request for information will be publicly viewable on www.regulations.gov.
Press release:
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2393
2) June 12 -- RFI: Written comments and information are requested on or before August 12, 2024.
. . . Treasury supports responsible innovation and competition in the financial sector and seeks to promote a financial system that delivers inclusive and equitable access to financial services that meet the needs of consumers, businesses, and investors, while maintaining stability and market integrity, protecting critical financial sector infrastructure, and combating illicit finance and national security threats. The use of AI is rapidly evolving, and Treasury is committed to continuing to monitor technological developments and their application and potential impacts in financial services to help inform any potential policy deliberations or actions.
To that end, Treasury is seeking comment on the uses of AI in the financial services sector and the opportunities and risks presented by developments and applications of AI within the sector. Treasury welcomes feedback from all parties that may have a perspective as to implications of AI in the financial sector on any question. “Financial institutions” in this RFI includes any company that facilitates or provides financial products or services.1 The RFI also seeks input on the potential opportunities and risks of financial institutions’ use of AI and how AI may affect impacted entities. “Impacted entities” in this RFI includes consumers, investors, financial institutions, businesses, regulators, end-users, and any other entity impacted by financial institutions’ use of AI. . . .
Treasury understands that financial institutions are exploring the use of AI, and is interested in gaining insights into those current and potential uses. The RFI also seeks input on the potential benefits and challenges of financial institutions’ use of AI for impacted entities.
This RFI adopts the definition of AI utilized in President Biden’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of AI: "The term “artificial intelligence” or “AI” has the meaning set forth in 15 U.S.C. 9401(3): a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence systems use machine and human–based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments; abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner; and use model inference to formulate options for information or action."
Treasury interprets this definition to describe a wide range of models and tools that utilize data, patterns, and other informational inputs to generate outputs – including statistical relationships, forecasts, content, and recommendations – for a given set of objectives. For the purposes of this RFI, Treasury is seeking comment on the latest developments in AI technologies and applications, including but not limited to advancements in existing AI (e.g., machine learning models that learn from data and automatically adapt and improve with minimal human interference, rather than relying on explicit programming) and emerging AI technologies including deep learning neutral network such as generative AI and large language models (LLMs). . . .
RFI:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-12336