Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent moved to play a more hands‑on role in U.S. artificial intelligence policy earlier this year after financial institutions warned that advanced AI models could put critical infrastructure at risk, including Federal Reserve payment systems used to move money, people familiar with the discussions told Semafor.
Banks, the Fed and payment‑rail concerns
Bank leaders have long raised concerns that payment infrastructure is among the potential systemic vulnerabilities. Banks have worked with the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve for years to develop alternative ways to transfer funds in case of a major outage. This spring, pressure grew as advanced models such as Anthropic’s Mythos heightened those worries.
Meetings and policy steps
In April, Bessent met with then‑Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the CEOs of systemically important banks to discuss risks tied to Anthropic’s Mythos. In the months since, Bessent has shifted the Trump administration away from a hands‑off stance, helping to shape an executive order that established a voluntary review process for advanced models and assigned the Treasury ownership of a new cyber clearinghouse.
The Federal Reserve referred a request for comment to the Treasury. The Treasury did not comment.
Anthropic, Mythos and Fable amid export controls
Anthropic is in talks with the Trump administration about how to bring Mythos — and its consumer counterpart, Fable — back online after the Commerce Department imposed export controls citing national security concerns. Those negotiations could delay implementation of the executive order, according to the reporting.
Why Fedwire matters
Federally and state‑chartered financial institutions with master accounts at a Federal Reserve bank can use payment systems like Fedwire to send money instantly. The Treasury itself uses those methods to transfer funds, and an increasing number of nonbanks also use them — a trend banks have warned could increase exposure of the systems.
There are a few private‑sector alternatives, but they lack the capacity to handle all transactions. That means if a system like Fedwire were to go offline, it could act as a tripwire for the U.S. economy.
According to Fedwire, in the first quarter of 2026 more than 54 million transfers were completed totaling more than $283 trillion. That works out to an average of 886,695 transfers per day, with an average value of more than $5 million per transfer.
Broader context
Separately, The Information reported that the Trump administration asked OpenAI to limit the release of a new advanced AI model amid national security concerns. Concerns about financial infrastructure and national security are thus both shaping the U.S. approach to AI policy.
