What happened
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma joined the US Federal Reserve as an external adviser to its 'Productivity and Jobs' taskforce. The Federal Reserve established five distinct taskforces, each co-led by external experts, to assess economic impacts and inform policy judgments. Sharma's taskforce will specifically evaluate the economic effects of new general-purpose technologies, including artificial intelligence, to inform the Federal Reserve's policy judgments. Sharma previously served as President of Microsoft's CoreAI product group.
Why it matters
US economic policy on artificial intelligence will now directly incorporate insights from a leading technology executive. This appointment means founders and investors must track emerging policy judgments, as the Federal Reserve's assessments will shape the regulatory and economic landscape for AI development and deployment. This move follows recent G7 discussions where leaders and AI executives debated AI sovereignty and deployment, indicating a global push for structured AI governance.
