With the AI “gold rush” luring investors into stocks like it’s 1995 (or even 1999), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is cracking down on AI pretenders. Chairman Gary Gensler just charged two companies for using “AI washing” in a bid to protect investors from disingenuous marketing claims.
The Toronto-based robo-investment advisory firm Delphia and the San Francisco-based online investment advisory firm Global Predictions were both found to have made “false and misleading statements about their purported use of artificial intelligence,” according to a Monday SEC press release.
Delphia was charged after falsely claiming that it used AI to “predict which companies and trends are about to make it big and invest in them before everyone else,” according to the SEC, while Global Predictions said it was the “first regulated AI financial advisor,” among other “false and misleading claims.” Both companies settled, agreeing to pay a combined $400,000 in civil penalties.
That’s not a big settlement for the SEC, but it does send a message to companies thinking about lying or stretching the truth to draw in AI investors—and that appeared to be Gensler’s main goal on Monday.
“Public company execs, they might think that they will enhance their stock price by talking about their use of AI. Well, here at the SEC, we want to make sure that these folks are telling the truth, Gensler said in a follow-up video posted to the SEC’s Youtube channel Monday.
Gurbir S. Grewal, the director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, echoed Gensler’s comments in a statement, saying the charges against Delphia and Global Prediction should make it “clear” that “if you claim to use AI in your investment processes, you need to ensure that your representations are not false or misleading.”
SEC chair Gensler went on to praise AI as “the most transformative technology of our time” in his video presentation, but he also warned that too many companies have historically attempted to take advantage of new technologies by lying to investors.
“Let’s face it, when new technologies come along, we’ve also seen time and again false claims to investors by those purporting to use those technologies,” he said, adding that “everyone may be talking about AI, but when it comes to investment advisors, broker-dealers, and public companies, they should make sure that what they say to investors is true.”
Chair Gensler’s new “AI washing” warning comes the same day that Nvidia, which is seen as the darling of the AI era, kicked off its three-day AI conference for developers that some analysts have labeled an AI “lovefest.”
The SEC’s latest action also follows its January warning about the use of AI marketing to lure investors into scams. “Bad actors might use catchy AI-related buzzwords and make claims that their companies or business strategies guarantee huge gains,” the SEC said in its fraud alert.
