Goldman takes AI coding tools from bankers; only engineers keep them
Goldman Sachs is limiting tools such as Claude Code and GitHub Copilot to its roughly 12,000 engineers, Bloomberg reports; traders and bankers lose access.
One of the largest investment banks is ending the experiment in which staff without programming training built their own software with AI. Productivity and risk control now outweigh the enthusiasm of the summer.
What happened
On 2 November Bloomberg reported on internal guidance issued in October. Under it, only engineers may use advanced AI coding tools, among them Anthropic's Claude Code and Microsoft's GitHub Copilot. Traders had used the tools for months to monitor client trading flows and to produce text and graphics; Bloomberg says the restriction has caused frustration. As recently as July Marco Argenti, the chief information officer, praised "vibe coding" by non-technical staff: a trader builds a prototype and an engineer makes it production-ready. A spokesman, Nick Carcaterra, said Goldman makes AI tools available to find the best use cases; after a period of experimentation, access now goes to those best placed to use them over the long term. He cited productivity and risk management, without detail. Other banks are drawing similar lines: JPMorgan does not admit outside AI agents, and Citigroup lets third-party agents neither log in nor transact. Assessment: whether security incidents played a part is not known.
What follows
When software is built outside IT, a bank loses sight of code that touches client data and trading decisions. Supervisors, however, expect traceability. Goldman's move suggests that the model of business units building their own tools hits limits in regulated industries. For vendors of AI tools this may mean fewer licences in business units and more among developers. In Germany BaFin, the financial regulator, has been the market-surveillance authority for AI systems in the financial sector since the summer. Assessment: whether German banks will follow is open. For staff in business units the skill in demand shifts accordingly: less coding of their own, more safe use of approved tools.
What changes in practice
- Bank staff
- Those who coded with AI without IT training lose that access at Goldman. Controlled tools remain in demand.
- IT departments
- Software that business units build with AI moves back under IT control, with review before use.
- Software vendors
- In banks, use of AI coding tools may concentrate on developers rather than the whole workforce.
What to watch
- Whether other large banks restrict access to AI coding tools
- Statements from BaFin on AI software built by business units
- Vendors' licence and user numbers in banking
Sources
- Bloomberg: Goldman restricts traders and bankers from using some AI tools
- PYMNTS: Goldman Sachs bars bankers from using Claude Code and GitHub
- The Decoder: Goldman Sachs pulls AI coding tools from traders and bankers
- BaFin: Überwachung von KI – BaFin erhält neue Kompetenzen