AI innovation is accelerating in the banking industry with a significant surge in new patents and papers published over the last six months. The AI benchmarking platform, Evident, has revealed this new data, highlighting five key players, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Bank of Montreal, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, as front runners in AI research, patenting, and investment in AI startups.

The recent Evident AI Innovation Report, which encompasses 50 of the world's largest banks, disclosed that since Q4 2023, banks published over 284 new AI research papers, filed in excess of 449 AI patents and made more than 97 new investments into AI-based startups. Additionally, AI innovation is now directly translating into improved market performance for the banks leading in AI development.

The top AI innovation contributors between Q4 2023 and Q1 2024 included: JPMorgan Chase, publishing 45 AI research papers; Bank of America impressively owning 156 AI patents; Bank of Montreal increasing the average citations of AI patents by 4.27; Citigroup making 11 investments into tech or data-focused companies and, along with Goldman Sachs, making two investments into AI-focused companies.

Evident has highlighted innovation in artificial intelligience as a strong precursor to future AI success. This link is evident as the banks leading in AI capabilities are also the ones spearheading AI innovation. Alexandra Mousavizadeh, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Evident, explains, "Successful banks continuously reinvent themselves in response to new innovations.

"When the tech changes, so do they and right now, AI is transforming the banking landscape at a pace never seen before," Mousavizadeh said.

Mousavizadeh further emphasises the importance of banks committing the time, resources and investment to proactively explore emerging AI technologies and use cases from conducting research and investing in cutting-edge startup technology to patenting in-house innovations as they break new ground. She reflects that AI innovation leaders are consolidating their advantage as building AI innovation within large, complex, and heavily regulated institutions like the banking industry takes time.

The research by Evident demonstrates that established leaders have a considerable lead in their areas of AI innovation strength, with JPMorgan Chase growing its output 2.4 times as fast as other top ten publishers. Banks such as Capital One and Bank of America account for over two-thirds of all AI-focused patent filings over the past year, whereas Goldman Sachs and Citigroup represent nearly one third of AI-focused ventures investing in AI startups with financial service applications.

Mousavizadeh concludes, "AI innovation takes years of incremental investment in capabilities ranging from research and patents to ventures and partnerships. Banks like JPMorgan Chase, Capital One and Royal Bank of Canada are providing a clever blueprint for success that the rest of the field would do well to follow."