Bank of America CEO: The driving effect of AI on the economy is gradually becoming apparent

Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America Corp., stated to the media on Monday that artificial intelligence (AI) is beginning to have a greater impact on the U.S. economy. In an interview with the media, Moynihan said: “AI-related investments have continued to accumulate this year and may become a bigger growth driver next year and in the years to come. AI is playing an increasingly important role, and while economic growth does not come solely from AI, the marginal impact it brings is very evident and significant.” Moynihan has led Bank of America for nearly 15 years. He indicated that the bank expects the U.S. economy to perform strongly next year, with economic growth projected to reach 2.4%, higher than the approximately 2% level expected in 2025. He also noted that although the labor market has begun to soften, this is more like a normalization process in the job market. In recent months, several AI companies, including OpenAI, have attracted billions of dollars in funding, with investors actively betting on this industry. However, corporate executives, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, have warned that AI spending could create an "industrial bubble," potentially leading to some investment losses in the short term, but will still have a positive impact on society in the long run. Moynihan stated that Bank of America believes that if the AI industry overheats and is subsequently forced to cool down, the risks to the overall economy are relatively limited, including the impact on consumers and employment, as this industry is mainly concentrated in a small number of companies. He said: “As a lending institution, we will pay attention to the leverage levels of these projects to ensure we are comfortable with them, and we will also assess whether the contract terms of clients ultimately committing to using data centers are robust enough.” Moynihan also mentioned that Bank of America is actively using AI itself. The company launched its smart assistant robot, Erica, in 2018. Currently, the number of questions Erica can answer has increased from the initial 200 to 700. Moynihan stated: “We will increasingly apply automated intelligence—or what we call augmented intelligence, which is using AI tools by humans to become more efficient—this will impact all areas of business.”