Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has announced the formation of five task forces to review critical areas of U.S. monetary policy and central bank operations. The panels will focus on Fed communications, the inflation framework, the balance sheet, economic data, and new technologies—including artificial intelligence.
The initiative places AI at the center of Warsh’s early agenda. Several members of the technology panel have publicly argued that AI could boost productivity and alter the trajectory of U.S. growth.
Warsh stated that the task forces will operate independently with support from Fed staff, providing evidence-based feedback and recommendations to the Federal Open Market Committee by the end of 2026. “The goal is straightforward: to ensure the Fed is best positioned to achieve our objectives in this consequential time,” he said.
Former Bank of England Governor Mervyn King will co-lead the communications review. Raghuram Rajan, former head of India’s central bank, and Harvard professor Jeremy Stein will lead the balance-sheet panel. The AI task force will be led by Marc Andreessen, Stanford economist Charles I. Jones, and Microsoft executive Asha Sharma—all vocal proponents of AI’s economic potential.
The AI panel arrives amid debate among Fed officials about how quickly the technology can raise productivity. While some FOMC participants see room for faster growth, others caution over timing and scale. New York Fed President John Williams warned that AI-driven demand has pushed up prices for electricity and semiconductors, describing the price path as a “hockey stick.” He emphasized that supply must expand to keep inflation under control.
Former Walmart CEO Doug McMillon will help lead the data-quality review, which comes as job-market data faces increased scrutiny due to revisions and lower survey response rates. The task forces are expected to complete their work by the end of 2026.
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