SEC Chief Warns AI ‘Monoculture’ Could Create ‘Pretty Fragile Financial System’

Gary Gensler believes AI could trigger the next financial crisis.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler testifies before a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee oversight hearing on the SEC on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 14, 2021. Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler warned that a centralized artificial intelligence (AI) could produce a “fragile” financial system.

Speaking at a virtual discussion hosted by non-profit consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen, Mr. Gensler again sounded the alarm over the growth and centralization of AI, asserting that it could be similar to today’s search engine and cloud services where only a handful of companies are dominating the market.