WASHINGTON, June 26 — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed for a deeper role in shaping artificial intelligence policy earlier this year, after a series of warnings from financial institutions that advanced AI models could expose critical infrastructure to catastrophic failure.
The warnings were specific. Banks told the Treasury Department that the same AI systems poised to revolutionize finance could also leave the Federal Reserve’s payment rails — the plumbing that lets banks send money to one another — dangerously vulnerable.
On the ground in Washington, the scene inside Treasury shifted as Bessent moved to insert himself into AI governance conversations that had largely been led by other agencies. Sources familiar with the matter describe a secretary who did not wait for a formal invitation.
The concern is not abstract. Financial institutions now rely on machine-learning models for everything from fraud detection to liquidity forecasting. But as those models grow more complex, regulators worry that a single cascading error — or a coordinated attack — could freeze the payment system that moves trillions of dollars daily.
Bessent’s intervention came as the administration grappled with how to regulate AI without stifling the innovation that has become a hallmark of the Trump-era economy. President Donald Trump has made American AI dominance a priority, but the Treasury secretary’s move reflects a growing anxiety inside the administration about the flip side of that ambition.
By nightfall, the contours of the debate were clear: Bessent wants Treasury to have a seat at the table when AI policy is written, particularly where it touches financial stability. The Federal Reserve, for its part, has its own concerns about the security of its payment systems.
What happens next is uncertain. The administration has not yet announced a formal AI financial stability framework. But with Bessent now pressing the issue, the question is no longer whether the Treasury Department will play a role in AI policy — only how large that role will be.
