For all his enthusiasm about artificial intelligence — it rated 65 mentions in the bank’s slide deck — Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn is confident the technology won’t soon cut a swathe through his workforce or the broader Australian labour market.
“I don’t think it’s going to have as significant an impact on the labour force as perhaps some have predicted,” he told Capital Brief following a stellar half-year result from Australia’s dominant lender, headlined by a $5.4 billion cash profit.
Comyn is in a unique position to speak on AI. Under his leadership, CBA invested in Anthropic, the AI lab behind the large language model Claude, which is at the front of the pack and making strong inroads in enterprise.
While the size of CBA’s stake remains undisclosed, its paper gains are likely substantial — Anthropic is reportedly closing its latest funding round at a $350 billion valuation, a sixfold increase since the bank tipped in.
