By Rebecca Ungarino

As New York City's heaviest winter storm in a decade started to subside Monday afternoon, investors and bank analysts headed over to JPMorgan Chase's sprawling new headquarters in Midtown Manhattan.

Chief Executive Jamie Dimon and his deputies were hosting a presentation on the company's financial performance, and stock analysts were there to pepper the executives with questions. Refreshments included green juices and dishes of gummy candies.

There was much to discuss. On Monday, shares of JPMorgan and its competitors fell some 4% as a sense of dread about artificial intelligence and its broader economic effects gripped the market.

While JPMorgan had scheduled its event in advance, the market's action that day underscored a harsh reality for lenders. The "AI scare trade," as Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo called it Monday, was unfolding.

JPMorgan is the largest U.S. bank by assets. During Dimon's 20-year tenure as CEO, its share price has outperformed major rivals, including Bank of America and Citigroup, by wide margins. But it faces more competition than ever from banks, private-equity firms, and start-ups, a dynamic its leaders often acknowledge. Accentuating that competition is financial and tech firms' race to gain an edge through AI tools.

Those issues were top of mind for shareholders this week. Mayo, known for posing pointed questions to bank CEOs, asked the executives on stage whether JPMorgan is an "AI and tech victim or beneficiary."

Mary Callahan Erdoes, who runs the firm's asset- and wealth management arm, said JPMorgan would be an "end-game winner" in AI.

Thousands of employees were now using AI tech around controls-related work that her business had started to use, Erdoes said, and certain prompts were making the tech "safer, better, and less error-prone." At the same time, the bank's competitors are looking for their edge, said Marianne Lake, chief executive of consumer and community banking.

So JPMorgan is leaning into its own advantages, including its size and longstanding connections, Lake said.

"Trust, confidence, value beyond price, our customer relationships," she said, and the "depth of our relationships and our data assets. We have a bunch of strategic assets that I think are hard to replicate."

"Only the paranoid survive," added Lake, who is among the leaders viewed as a potential successor to Dimon. "We aren't walking around thinking we have the divine right to success. We are walking around thinking about how to optimize the value we give to our customers."

Doug Petno, co-chief of JPMorgan's commercial and investment bank, touted the firm's tools for bankers and sales teams as well as so-called agentic commerce, or using bots that assist with buying products.

"When you think about these coding assistants, we're essentially a tech company," Petno said.

Whether JPMorgan can maintain its dominance through a period of intense disruption remains to be seen. The firm expects to spend $19.8 billion on tech in 2026, up from some $18 billion in 2025. Expenses should total about $105 billion this year, the company said.

The slide presentation Monday featured at least one use of new tech: an AI-generated image of alphabet soup, created by the firm's treasurer, showing the many acronyms to describe complex liquidity regulations.

Dimon, known for airing warnings about risks he sees to the market and the economy, left his guests with a cautious note Monday as stocks trade near all-time highs.

He worries that investors might be getting too comfortable even as geopolitical tensions, inflation, and other issues bubble up, creating the potential for a weaker economic cycle.

"My anxiety is high over it," he said. "I'm not assuaged by the fact that asset prices are high. In fact, I think that adds to the risk."

He added, "When I think about all the factors taking place, I take a deep breath and say, 'Watch out.'"

Write to Rebecca Ungarino at rebecca.ungarino@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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February 24, 2026 08:18 ET (13:18 GMT)

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