Anthropic, like OpenAI, has been vying for business customers with specialized services beyond software engineering and coding. Photo by Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images

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Called Claude for Financial Advisors, the system promises to speed up research, administrative and portfolio-oversight tasks, according to senior executives at Anthropic and BlackRock.

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It’s one of the most significant steps so far by the AI firm to expand into the financial industry. The feature — which also connects with tools from Charles Schwab Corp. and iCapital, among others — builds on Anthropic’s earlier introduction of AI agents designed to handle financial services tasks, including drafting pitch decks and reviewing statements.

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The firm is making its pitch to the finance industry at a time of growth and tumult for all AI firms. Anthropic and OpenAI, which last week introduced its own financial services feature tailored to investment bankers and equity researchers, are both planning initial public offerings that will net billions for early investors.

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At the same time, the rapid growth of artificial intelligence technologies is raising alarm bells for lawmakers and industry leaders worldwide. On Saturday, Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei said development of the most advanced systems must be slowed in order to prevent catastrophe; OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and SpaceXAI chief executive Elon Musk endorsed his statement.

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Anthropic, like OpenAI, has been vying for business customers with specialized services beyond software engineering and coding.

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Claude for Financial Advisors is part of that initiative, pitching a more efficient process for advisers that allows them to handle more clients.

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“The actual financial adviser community — it’s not that big and it’s actually shrinking,” Jonathan Pelosi, Anthropic’s head of financial services, said in an interview. “These people are retiring, there’s not a ton of them. So great financial guidance is actually not in high supply. If we can do something to help enable these advisers to service more customers, we think of that as an absolute win.”

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Anthropic’s tool can connect more advisers to portfolio analytics and investment research tools from firms including BlackRock and Vanguard and could lead to more business for these companies. Financial advisers increasingly rely on “model portfolios” of exchange-traded funds and other investments; BlackRock, for example, said it currently manages about US$300 billion in these portfolios.