Bank of England chief warns frontier AI could threaten global finance

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, has warned G20 finance ministers and central bank governors that frontier AI models could disrupt the highly connected global financial system through cyber attacks. He also chairs the Financial Stability Board and stressed that many countries lack mechanisms to manage the development and deployment of advanced AI models, allowing risks to spread quickly across borders.

In his letter, Bailey said frontier AI could fundamentally change the speed, scale, and cost of cyber risks, especially as finance relies heavily on a few third-party providers, potentially undermining market confidence. He urged regulators to prioritize safe and responsible AI deployment globally.

Earlier, 1,367 researchers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind signed a joint letter warning that AI capabilities could outpace our ability to understand or control them. Bailey also expressed concerns about rising leverage in bond and stock markets, where AI-driven optimism may inflate asset values and amplify future corrections.