Jamie Dimon says JPMorgan spends $2B a year on AI – and breaks even with savings

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday the bank now spends about $2 billion a year on artificial intelligence – and breaks even on the investment thanks to savings the tech has created.

JPMorgan invests heavily each year on AI programs across the company in areas like risk, marketing and customer service, Dimon told Bloomberg TV during an interview.

The bank — the largest in the country, by total assets — sees about the same amount in annual savings from those investments, he added.

“We know that it’s got to billions of cost savings and I think it’s the tip of the iceberg,” Dimon said.

He said his bank already has hundreds of use cases for the emerging technology, and that applications will only continue to grow.

Dimon often touts the wondrous of potential of AI — saying it can help cure cancer or reduce the work week — even as he notes the potential risk to some jobs, Bloomberg noted.

Artificial intelligence and automation could wipe out nearly 100 million jobs in the US over the next decade, according to a study released Monday by Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) office.

New technologies including robotics could affect 40% of registered nurses, 47% of truck drivers, 64% of accountants, 65% of teaching assistants and 89% of fast food workers, according to Sanders, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

“The agricultural revolution unfolded over thousands of years. The industrial revolution took more than a century,” the report warned. “Artificial labor could reshape the economy in less than a decade.”

During the Tuesday interview, Dimon chimed in on the government shutdown as it entered its seventh day.

“I don’t care what the Democrats or Republicans say,” the exec said. “It’s a bad idea. It’s not a way to run a railroad.”

While the recent shutdown is the wrong way to manage the government, it’s unlikely to hurt the stock market in the long run, he added.

Dimon gave his stamp of approval on the Department of Defense taking a 15% stake in MP Materials, America’s largest rare earths miner, as the US races to build up its supply of critical minerals to rival China.

He said it makes sense for the government to invest in areas that emerge as national security concerns and called the investment “a very smart thing.”

“I think you have to be very careful in why you get involved in that kind of stuff,” Dimon told Bloomberg TV, though he added: “I do think they need to do more.”

The CEO said he would also support Trump’s move to have public companies report their earnings less frequently.

Trump thinks the Securities and Exchange Commission should require earnings reports every six months — a change from the status quo of quarterly filings.

If the requirements change, JPMorgan would probably still update investors quarterly, but with less information, Dimon said.