Fed’s Cook: A.I. buildout adding inflation pressure; she backed September hike

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook spoke in Oakland on Sept. 28, 2026, at Oakland Tech Week.

The speech is titled “An Update on AI and the Economy.”

She said investment driven by artificial intelligence is among the factors keeping inflation above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target.

She said she voted with the rest of the Federal Open Market Committee to raise rates a quarter point at the recent September meeting.

Her words: “I voted along with the rest of the FOMC to raise rates 25 basis points at the recent September meeting.”

She cited estimates, not a new Bureau of Labor Statistics release: total inflation of about 3.8 percent and core inflation of about 3.4 percent in the 12 months into August.

The speech says: “Total inflation rose an estimated 3.8 percent in the 12 months leading into August.” Core inflation, she said, rose an estimated 3.4 percent.

Unemployment, she said, was 4.1 percent in August.

Companies, she said, have spent only a small fraction of about $2 trillion in announced data-center plans.

These inflation figures are her speech estimates. They are not a substitute for a new price index. A live reading of the FRED consumer-price series could not be fetched this morning.