- Key insight: OpenAI has launched ChatGPT for Financial Services, a GPT-6 powered tool that brings private market data to investment banks.
- Expert quote: "We're effectively teaching ChatGPT to research like an analyst and back up its conclusions like an analyst." —OpenAI's Nick Turley
- What's at stake: The tool, if adopted widely, could further reduce the relevance of entry-level analyst roles at investment banks.
OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT, is courting investment banks with a new launch designed to work like a junior Wall Street employee.
The company announced in a
ChatGPT for Financial Services, which is currently being offered to "eligible financial institutions," is advertised by the company as being able to put together research, financial models and customized presentations for investment bankers. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what determines eligibility.
"We're effectively teaching ChatGPT to research like an analyst and back up its conclusions like an analyst," OpenAI Vice President of Product Nick Turley said during a briefing announcing the new product.
The product was built, according to a company blog post, through a "design partnership" with the investment firms Morgan Stanley and Evercore. "The collaboration has enabled us to pinpoint where OpenAI can solve the biggest challenges for financial institutions and has guided us on the solutions that will help every banker in their day-to-day work," the blog post said.
Annie DeStefano, a fintech and banking consultant with prior experience at Goldman Sachs and Silicon Valley Bank, told American Banker that the announcement is a continuation of the industry specialization trend she has seen from market leaders on AI.
"The depth [that] regulated industries require for AI adoption will absolutely require this type of industry-led design partnership," she said.
The rollout brings artificial intelligence further into a field traditionally occupied by Wall Street's junior bankers — the analysts and associates (typically entry-level positions) that the industry has employed for decades to research deals and put together presentations. Some data reports and
Turley framed ChatGPT for Financial Services as an efficiency tool for junior bankers when asked whether the tool would replace them. "In the same way that Microsoft Excel transformed the industry and allowed them to produce better analysis faster, you will see technology like this do the same," he said.
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DeStefano said that she doesn't see ChatGPT replacing junior analyst work entirely, but sees potential for increases in efficiency.
"When dealing with sensitive information and transactions," she said, "continued judgement and discernment by trained professionals, within an established risk framework of an institution, will be needed."
Theodora Lau, founder of Unconventional Ventures, told American Banker that she doesn't think the tool will immediately take away the jobs of junior bankers but could create a threat for the role in the future.
"We are removing the ability for the junior bankers to learn what a wrong model looks like," she said. "Ten years down the road, you'll end up with managing directors who have never built a model from scratch. That's what apprenticeship is supposed to be for, and it just got automated by OpenAI."
