JPMorgan Chase is leaning towards the AI boom in a way that might make some financial advisors uncomfortable. The company, which topped the all-time ranking for AI advancement among banks this year, is creating an AI tool to help investors pick stocks.
On May 11, JPMorgan filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for “IndexGPT,” an artificial intelligence software service that can be used to “select securities and financial assets.” The recording was first cited in File CNBC a report.
Trademark attorney Josh Gerbin told CNBC’s Hugh Son that the move is a “real indication” that JPMorgan may soon launch an artificial intelligence product for investors. “Companies like JPMorgan don’t just offer brands for their enjoyment,” he said. “It sounds to me like they’re trying to put my financial advisors out of business.”
IndexGPT is likely to do more than just advise investors as well. The JPMorgan trademark application also includes a reference to the technology used for “financial investment in securities” as well as “investing money.” It can be used for everything from “advertising” and “marketing services” to clerical and administrative tasks.
That’s because JPMorgan filed its IndexGPT application for three separate international classes of trademark. The first is for “advertising and business” services, the second is for “insurance and financial services,” and the third is for “computer and science” services, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office.
A JPMorgan Chase representative declined to comment on the company’s brand enforcement and recent push toward artificial intelligence in an email to luck. It is not clear if, or when, the company will make its AI technology available to its employees or customers.
However, IndexGPT is not JPMorgan’s first foray into artificial intelligence. In April, economists at the investment bank began using an artificial intelligence model that analyzes Fed communications to help predict the central bank’s next steps. CEO Jamie Dimon has praised recent advances in artificial intelligence over the past few years. In March, he said the technology was “amazing” in an interview with Bloomberg and briefly discussed how the bank plans to use it in a variety of ways.
We already use it to do risk, fraud, marketing and prospecting – which is the tip of the iceberg. This is unusual for me.
Other large investment banks have also started testing AI products recently. In March, Morgan Stanley announced that it was developing tools to help its wealth managers sift through and better understand the investment bank’s body of research on the economy and markets. In a similar move, luckGoldman Sachs’ Jeremy Kahn reported in April that Goldman Sachs is considering creating “ChatGS” artificial intelligence technology to help financial advisors sift through data and better serve clients.
