The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), in collaboration with the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited (Cyberport), announced today (28 April) the launch of the second cohort of the Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenA.I.) Sandbox initiative.  The GenA.I. Sandbox aims to provide a risk-controlled environment for banks to develop and test innovative solutions using artificial intelligence (A.I.), further advancing the adoption of A.I. technology in the financial sector.

Following the positive responses received in the inaugural cohort started in January this year, the second cohort will continue to focus on use cases that further enhance risk management, anti-fraud measures and customer experience. 

As a step forward, a key addition to the second cohort is the introduction of the GenA.I. Sandbox Collaboratory (Collaboratory), a platform comprising a series of practical workshops that facilitates early engagements between banks and technology providers.  These workshops are designed to drive the conversion of problem statements into practical use cases, which can then be trialled in the GenA.I. Sandbox.  Specifically, in response to the growing threat of deepfake scams, a dedicated Collaboratory workshop on combatting deepfake attacks with A.I. will be held in the coming weeks, convening subject matter experts from tech firms, digital banks as well as small and medium-sized banks, to share actionable solutions and innovative detection tools.

Mr Arthur Yuen, Deputy Chief Executive of the HKMA, said, “The launch of the second cohort of the GenA.I. Sandbox underscores our commitment to advancing responsible innovation in GenA.I. across the banking industry.  Moving beyond validating use cases, this cohort also aims to examine the possibilities of ‘A.I. versus A.I.’.  Banks are encouraged to explore integrating A.I. into their second and third lines of defence for risk management, addressing the risks and challenges emerging from A.I. advancements while reaping the benefits.”

The launch was announced during the fifth edition of the FiNETech series (FiNETech5), which convened over 150 A.I. practitioners from the banking and technology sectors.  The FiNETech event provided a platform for sharing initial insights from first cohort participants and expert perspectives on the latest GenA.I. developments, and inspired interested banks and technology providers about potential exploration of responsible innovation by participating in the second cohort of the GenA.I. Sandbox.