Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh has assembled a high-profile group of AI advocates to help evaluate how artificial intelligence could reshape the U.S. economy and influence future monetary policy.
Fed’s New AI Task Force To Assess AI’s Economic Impact
The Federal Reserve on Thursday unveiled five external task forces, including one focused on evaluating the economic effects of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
According to the Fed, the AI task force will “assess the economic impact of new general-purpose technologies, including artificial intelligence, to inform the Federal Reserve’s policy judgments.”
The panel, which will be led by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, includes Stanford economist Charles I. Jones and newly appointed CEO of Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) gaming division, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma.
Kevin Warsh Sees AI As A Productivity Engine
Warsh has repeatedly argued that AI could allow the U.S. economy to grow faster without triggering inflation, according to CNBC.
Earlier this year, he suggested advances in AI could eventually support lower interest rates, while in June he described AI adoption as “perhaps as important a change in the economy and business and households that we’ve had in my adult lifetime.”
However, not everyone at the Fed shares that optimism.
Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee’s June meeting showed policymakers acknowledged AI’s potential to boost productivity but said there remains “considerable uncertainty” over both the timing and scale of those gains.
The tech industry has seen layoffs accelerate alongside rising investments in AI infrastructure, with more than 81,000 jobs cut during the first quarter of 2026.
Just earlier this month, Microsoft unveiled plans to cut 4,800 jobs, including approximately 3,200 roles at Xbox, with 1,600 layoffs taking effect immediately and another 1,600 scheduled over the coming year.
Who Is Leading the Fed’s New Task Forces
The Fed also created four additional task forces.
The communications panel will be led by University of Washington professor Peter R. Fisher, former Brazilian central bank chief Arminio Fraga and former Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King.
The balance sheet policy group will be headed by Harvard economist Karen Dynan, former Reserve Bank of India Gov. Raghuram Rajan and former Federal Reserve Gov. Jeremy Stein.
The data task force will be led by Harvard economist Raj Chetty, Walmart Inc. (NASDAQ:WMT) CEO Doug McMillon and University of Chicago economist Kevin Murphy.
Meanwhile, the inflation frameworks panel will include Harvard economist and former White House adviser Greg Mankiw, Nobel Prize-winning economist Thomas Sargent and former Bank for International Settlements economic adviser William White.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock.com
Recent Comments