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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned Wall Street executives that bad actors could exploit digital voice ID authentication to defraud consumers by enabling large money transfers, creating what he describes as an imminent fraud crisis.
“I am very nervous that we have an impending, significant fraud crisis,” Altman said during a banking regulatory conference hosted by the Federal Reserve on Tuesday.
During a panel that was moderated by Michelle Bowman, the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for supervision, Altman said that one of his biggest concerns is that some financial institutions accept digital voice ID as authentication for someone to move a lot of money.
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He stressed concerns regarding fake authentication, saying “some bad actor is going to release it – this is not a super difficult thing to do. This is coming very, very soon.”
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (R) greets OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (L) after he speaks at the Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference at the Federal Reserve on July 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)
This isn’t a new concern, either – experts in the industry have been raising alarms about it for years.
In June 2024, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the world’s largest anti-fraud organization, discussed how artificial intelligence can be used to replicate someone’s voice “with astonishing accuracy.”
“This technology employs sophisticated algorithms and neural networks to analyze and mimic the speech patterns, tone and cadence of a target individual. While deepfakes started with visual content, such as fake videos of celebrities or politicians, the advancement in audio deepfakes is now a pressing concern,” the ACFE wrote, noting that the misuse of AI-generated voices can lead to severe implications, including unauthorized financial transactions.
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At the 2025 RSA Conference in San Francisco earlier this year, tens of thousands of cybersecurity and technology professionals gathered to discuss how AI is rapidly reshaping the cybersecurity landscape.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, delivers remarks at the Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference at the Federal Reserve on July 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images / Getty Images)
During the conference, discussions included how the technology is not only accelerating the speed of cyberattacks, with hackers often breaking into systems in under an hour, but it’s offering criminals new ways to create highly convincing and personalized attacks at “an unprecedented scale”, according to consulting firm McKinsey.
“The ability of hackers to use AI tools—from creating convincing phishing emails, fake websites, and even deepfake videos to injecting malicious prompts or code—allows cybercriminals to craft personalized, realistic messages and methods that bypass traditional detection mechanisms,” McKinsey said in its May 2025 blog post “AI is the greatest threat—and defense—in cybersecurity today.”
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, participates in a discussion with Vice Chair for Supervision at the Federal Reserve Michelle Bowman at the Integrated Review of the Capital Framework for Large Banks Conference at the Federal Reserve on July 22, 2025 in Was ( Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) / Getty Images)
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To detect, deter, and halt AI-related impersonation, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it has taken several preventative measures, such as finalizing a rule in 2024 to combat impersonation of governments and businesses. It also launched a voice cloning challenge aimed at developing ideas to protect consumers by detecting and halting the misuse of voice cloning software by unauthorized users, according to the FTC.
