Fed Governor Waller Compares FRED Data Platform to AI at St. Louis Conference
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller addressed FRED Con 2026, examining how the central bank's data platform stacks up against artificial intelligence tools.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller took the stage at FRED Con 2026 in St. Louis, Missouri, delivering remarks that framed the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's widely used FRED economic data platform in direct competition — or collaboration — with the rapidly expanding capabilities of artificial intelligence.
The conference, hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and themed around trust, AI, and data storytelling, brought together economists, data professionals, and policymakers to examine how institutions navigate an increasingly AI-driven information landscape. Waller's address placed FRED at the center of that debate, invoking the imagery of a clash between two titans — a nod to the popular monster-film franchise — to illustrate the tension between established institutional data infrastructure and emerging AI systems.
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FRED, the Federal Reserve Economic Data repository, is one of the most heavily trafficked public economic databases in the world, offering hundreds of thousands of data series used by researchers, journalists, and market participants. As AI tools increasingly offer on-demand data synthesis and economic analysis, traditional platforms like FRED face both a challenge to their relevance and an opportunity to integrate new technologies.
Waller's remarks reflect a broader conversation inside the Federal Reserve system about how central banks should position themselves as authoritative sources of economic information in an era when AI can generate plausible-sounding but potentially unreliable data narratives. The stakes for public trust in official statistics and monetary policy communication are considerable.
Continue reading at FRB: Speeches.
