OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has issued a stark warning to the financial industry, stating that artificial intelligence tools capable of impersonating a person's voice pose a “significant impending fraud crisis.” Speaking at a Federal Reserve conference, Altman stressed that voice-based security systems are now obsolete and called for immediate action.
Altman expressed particular alarm over financial institutions that still use voiceprint authentication. “A thing that terrifies me is apparently there are still some financial institutions that will accept a voiceprint as authentication,” Altman said, calling the practice “a crazy thing to still be doing.” He warned that AI has “fully defeated” many current identity verification methods. Voice cloning technology can now create convincing impersonations from as little as three seconds of audio, which can be easily sourced from social media posts.
This threat has already led to significant financial losses. Reports indicate banks and other organizations are losing an average of $600,000 per voice deepfake incident, with 23% losing over $1 million. In response, 91% of U.S. banks are reevaluating their use of voice verification for high-value clients. Altman urged financial institutions to implement more advanced multi-factor verification methods to securely confirm identity.
OpenAI itself, recognizing the risks posed by its own Voice Engine technology, has advocated for phasing out voice-based authentication for accessing bank accounts and educating the public about deceptive AI content.