Plaid CEO says 'it's inevitable AI will drive our financial lives'

ChatGPT might one day be your financial advisor, if Plaid CEO Zach Perret gets his wish.

"I suspect that the world of chat apps will create, obviously, more options for consumers and how they're going to use it, but it is inevitable that AI is going to drive our financial lives, and whether we choose to use it a lot, or a little, or maybe not at all is a personal decision," Perret said during Semafor's World Economic Summit in Washington, DC.

Perret's fintech allows users to connect their bank accounts to digital finance apps like Venmo, which he said is partially why he's so trusting of technology with sensitive financial information. He said not everyone may be so ready to have AI move their money around.

"I'm super pro, like try everything new, and I'm willing to accept some risk for that," he said.

OpenAI recently announced that it will integrate several apps into ChatGPT, including OpenTable, Instacart, Target, and Zillow. On Tuesday, Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, said it would add an instant checkout experience to OpenAI's widely popular chatbot.

Perret said it's easy to see a future where users can let AI control their finances.

"If ChatGPT could let me move my money around, if it could make investment decisions for me, if it could figure out which bank account my paycheck should go into, I would give it all the trust in the world," he said.

Ultimately, he said it's about letting AI take on more tasks that people would rather not worry about.

"I want my financial life to be fully automated and I never want to think about it," Perret said.

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