By Jennifer Matthews
- Goldman Sachs saw its revenue rise 39% to $20.3 billion, while JPMorgan Chase increased 27% to $58 billion, both set new records thanks to trading and deals powered by AI
- Black workers face a higher risk of losing jobs to AI, but own only a small share of the wealth being created by it
Wall Street has made it clear where the real money in AI is. Goldman Sachs (GS -0.01%) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM +0.63%) both reported record quarterly revenue. JPMorgan’s CFO Jeremy Barnum said AI is now “everywhere in financial markets.” Goldman’s trading revenue jumped 72% to $7.42 billion, and none of that came from making computer chips.
Why This Matters: The banks are not creating this technology. Instead, they fund it and collect fees on every data center loan, big IPO, and index change. This is one of America’s oldest business models, own the toll booth and let others pay to use it.
Today that toll booth is a public company, but many Americans are still left out. The median Black household has $44,890 in wealth, while white households have $285,000. This gap grew by about $50,000 from 2019 to 2022. Only 39% of Black families own any stock, compared to 66% of white families, with median stock holdings of $16,500 versus $67,800. Even as banks had their best quarter ever, many of us saw no benefit.
At the same time, we face the negative effects. Black workers hold 17 out of the 30 jobs most at risk from automation, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Their businesses are denied loans about 39% of the time, twice the rate for white-owned businesses.
Situational Awareness: As AI takes over loan decisions, this bias gets built into the system and disguised as numbers. You can buy shares of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan just like any other stock, whether through a financial sector index fund, a Roth IRA, or a 401(k). Owning them may not be as exciting as chasing the newest AI stock, but they tend to hold up better when the excitement dies down.
CBx Vibe: “Money” J. Lock, Finesse2Tymes
