AI assistants helping people maximize their cash could trigger a bank run, Apollo's chief economist warns

Jolly, the mascot for Meta's Muse AI agent. Bloomberg/Getty Images An AI agent trying to optimize your cash could move your money from a bank to a fintech firm. If everyone's agent does that, however, it could trigger a bank run, Apollo's top economist said. Torsten Slok warned that banks could lose the deposits they use to fund loans. The chief economist at the giant private equity firm Apollo says your AI assistant could trigger a deposit exodus in traditional banks. In a nutshell, Torsten Slok's theory goes like this: You ask an AI agent like Meta's Muse for ways to max out your cash. The agent sees that your money is sitting in checking or savings accounts, which offer national averages of 0.1% or 0.4% a year in returns, respectively.