AI’s voice mimicking software is so powerful that Sam Altman is terrified of a ‘fraud crisis’ around the corner. He just warned the Fed about it

What caught my attention is ·Fortune IntelligenceAI’s voice mimicking software is so powerful that Sam Altman is terrified of a ‘fraud crisis’ around the corner

He just warned the Fed itBy Nick LichtenbergBy Nick LichtenbergFortune Intelligence EditorNick LichtenbergFortune Intelligence EditorNick Lichtenberg is Fortune Intelligence editor and was formerly Fortune's executive editor of global news

Al Drago / Bloomberg—Getty ImagesIn a stark and urgent warning to the nation’s financial stewards, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared on Tuesday that artificial intelligence is now so adept at mimicking human voices it could spark a global “fraud crisis” in banking “very, very soon, considering recent developments

Furthermore, ” His remarks, dered at a Federal Reserve conference in Washington, underscored how people will have to change fundamental things the way they interact because of the relentless pace of advancements in this nology

Altman addressed hundreds of regulators and banking executives while sitting down for an interview with Fed governor Michelle Bowman, the vice chair for supervision, in light of current trends

Furthermore, Bowman, who has emerged as a contender to potentially succeed Fed chair Jerome Powell, mpted Altman to talk the nology he helped pioneer and concerns fraud

Altman immediately brought up how powerful AI models are now capable of perfectly reducing anyone’s voice based on just a few short audio samples and issued his warning: “A thing that terrifies me is apparently there are still some financial institutions that will accept the voice as authentication for you to move a lot of money or do something else,” Altman told the audience. “That's a crazy thing to still be doing … AI has fully defeated that. ” The widespread adoption of voice authentication To Altman’s point, banks have, for more than a decade, relied on voice authentication: Clients repeat a custom phrase, their “voice,” to access accounts

But as generative AI has advanced, so have the tools available to would-be fraudsters

However, Altman described a near future where attackers will be able to call a bank, pass every test, and move money freely, all by simulating a customer’s voice, in today's market environment. “Just because we are not releasing the nology does not mean it does not exist,” Altman said of the pandora’s box that AI represents (an important development). “Some bad actor is going to release it—this is not a super difficult thing to do (something worth watching). ” The OpenAI chief described the scenario that keeps him up at night: a large-scale, coordinated attack where AI-generated voices rapidly defeat outdated security measures across the world’s biggest banks

Additionally, The threat isn’t limited to voice, in this volatile climate

Altman gave a glimpse into the next frontier: “ clones”—AI capable of mimicking an individual’s appearance and speech—heightening the stakes for personal security and institutional trust (this bears monitoring). “Right now it is a voice call

Soon it is going to be a FaceTime

On the other hand, It will be indistinguishable from reality,” he said

Furthermore, A potential partner in Washington Altman’s warning didn’t fall on deaf ears

Bowman agreed that collaboration between regulators and leaders going forward will be vital (noteworthy indeed) (which is quite significant)

Additionally, “That might be something we can think partnering on,” she said, signaling the central bank’s readiness to take action and eagerness to work with OpenAI

OpenAI, for its part, is planning to expand its physical presence in Washington, D (remarkable data)

Moreover, , aiming to facilitate more direct collaboration with regulators and policymakers, including the Federal Reserve

The company’s new D (something worth watching)

Office will host policy workshops and serve as a venue for hands-on collaboration and training related to AI deployments in government and regulated industries, a spokesperson for OpenAI told CNBC the day before Altman’s panel with Bowman

At the same time, The Fed frequently organizes similar roundtable discussions and panels with executives from, fin, and financial institutions to explore the adoption and impact of AI, especially generative AI, in banking and broader economic sectors, given current economic conditions

Conversely, The central bank also encourages partnerships between banks and fins, with the latter working to integrate advanced AI tools into regulated banking activity

For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft

Moreover, An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing

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