In a move that underscores the growing influence of AI in the financial industry, JPMorgan Chase has unveiled a cutting-edge generative AI product. This new tool, LLM Suite, is being hailed as a game-changer and is capable of performing tasks traditionally assigned to research analysts.
According to an internal memo obtained by the Financial Times, JPMorgan has granted employees in its asset and wealth management division access to this large language model platform. The memo, jointly signed by key executives Mary Erdoes, head of JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management business, Teresa Heitsenrether, the bank’s chief data and analytics officer, and Mike Urciuoli, the asset and wealth management unit’s chief information officer, describes LLM Suite as a “ChatGPT-like product” designed for “general purpose productivity.”
The purpose of the platform is to change how employees work with their daily tasks, and it has various functions, including writing, helping to generate ideas, and document summarisation. The memo states, “Think of LLM Suite as a research analyst that can offer information, solutions, and advice on a topic.” Additionally, it is not an AI tool that performs functions by itself but an addition to the firm’s existing applications for handling financial information carefully—Connect Coach and SpectrumGPT.
JPMorgan began the process of providing access to the LLM Suite to several of its departments earlier this year, representing a gradual implementation of the new system. At this point, an estimated 50,000 employees, or about 15% of the organisation’s workforce, can access the new platform. The number of research analysts who work for JPMorgan is not revealed, but the fact that the innovation affects so many employees from various departments raises the question of its relevance to traditional roles.
It is worth mentioning that this is one of the most extensive implementations of large language models on Wall Street. For example, Morgan Stanley has started developing AI products built by OpenAI to improve their wealth management businesses. However, JPMorgan distinguishes itself from other financial organisations by developing its own AI tool, LLM Suite. A powerful reason to create the LLM Suite internally is the high level of regulation in the financial services domain.
According to the strict regulations typical for any financial organisation, JPMorgan workers are not allowed to use any AI chatbots developed by other companies for consumers. These include Anthropic’s Claude, OpenAI’s GPT, and Google’s Gemini. Another reason is to ensure that customer information remains on the bank’s servers safe and sound.
As a company actively involved in the use of AI for enhancing services to its clients, JPMorgan Bank CEO Jamie Dimon made a statement to investors in May: “AI is going to change every job. It may eliminate some jobs. Some of it may create additional jobs.” He went further to state, “But you can’t envision one app, one database, or one job where it’s not going to help, aid, or abet.” Such a statement reflects the bank’s forward-looking attitude towards AI.
Already, AI technologies contribute a significant amount of money to the bank. According to Daniel Pinto, the president of the bank, the value of AI technology currently in use is $1 to $1.5 billion. This fact shows that the effect of AI adoption is significant for the bank, which means it is also beneficial for society.
Despite the fact that the release of LLM Suite is a breakthrough in AI implementation in the financial sphere, it is still possible to note that the technology has some drawbacks. Specifically, like any other AI model, LLM Suite may not work with sufficient accuracy, may “hallucinate,” or provide false data as correct information. Nevertheless, the memo does not discuss these issues or whether they exist.
(Photo by IKECHUKWU JULIUS UGWU)
See also: Meta advances open source AI with ‘frontier-level’ Llama 3.1
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