Fed’s Lisa Cook says AI could sharpen the central bank’s data work

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook thinks artificial intelligence could make the central bank better at its homework. She also thinks the race to build AI is making the Fed’s main job harder. Speaking at Oakland Tech Week on September 28, 2026, Cook described AI as a technology with two faces. One could boost productivity and economic research over time. The other is currently pushing up costs. What Cook actually said about AI at the Fed Cook was careful to draw a line, though. The Federal Open Market Committee, the group that sets US interest rates, does not use AI to make monetary policy decisions. Instead, the Fed is exploring AI for internal tasks. Cook pointed to examples like summarizing documents and supporting financial stability analysis. Beyond the Fed’s own operations, Cook highlighted AI’s long-term potential to lift productivity across the economy. She expects those gains to produce modest disinflationary effects in the coming years. The inflation problem AI is creating today The less flattering side of Cook’s speech focused on the present. Building AI requires enormous amounts of energy, infrastructure, and related resources, much of it tied to data center developm...