FCA Official Urges Crackdown on OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic AI Models

A senior U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) official, Sheldon Mills, said the country should consider regulating well-known artificial intelligence (AI) models such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Anthropic's Claude, and Google's (GOOGL) Gemini. The proposal comes as regulators worldwide debate how to regulate advanced AI systems now being used in banking, investing, and other financial services.

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FCA Wants Review of AI Models Used for Financial Advice

After concluding a personal review of popular AI models on July 6, Mills stated that Britain should consider setting new rules for these systems. The review found that more than one in four people in the U.K. trust ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for financial advice, even though these AI tools are not bound by the same rules as regulated financial services.

As a result, Mills said the FCA should use the next three to six months to decide whether existing rules should apply to these AI models as they become more widely used. FCA Chair Ashley Alder also said regulators must keep pace with the fast-changing AI landscape while continuing to protect consumers.

Growing AI Adoption Raises System-Wide Risk Concerns

The FCA's review also signaled how quickly AI is being adopted across the financial industry. According to a recent report, 81% of financial firms worldwide now use AI in some form, while 40% are already deploying it at a more advanced level.

Although AI is still mainly used behind the scenes, more financial firms are employing it to handle user complaints and provide investment advice.

Mills also warned that relying on a small number of AI firms, cloud providers, and tech platforms could create risks for financial systems. If many firms use the same tech, a single outage or failure could disrupt multiple businesses at once.

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