Marc Andreessen has been named to co-lead the one US Federal Reserve (Fed) task force that chair Kevin Warsh has tied to interest-rate cuts, handing the venture capitalist a role in the central bank's overhaul.
a16z's Andreessen Lands Fed Perch as AI Investors Weigh Case for Rate Cuts
10 July 2026 - 10:50 CEST
By Stu Clelland
A crypto, AI investor at the Fed
Warsh unveiled the members of five reform task forces on 9 Jul, part of the shake-up he promised after taking over the Fed. Andreessen, co-founder of venture firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and a leading backer of crypto and artificial intelligence (AI) startups, will co-chair the Productivity and Jobs panel alongside Stanford economist Charles Jones, currently on leave at AI developer Anthropic, and senior Microsoft executive Asha Sharma.
Rate-cut thesis in dispute
The choice seats figures close to the AI industry on the panel weighing a question at the centre of Fed policy. Warsh has argued that an AI-driven productivity surge could let the Fed cut borrowing costs without fuelling inflation. Other rate-setters disagree: minutes from the June meeting showed the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) divided over whether AI demand cools prices or feeds them, a near-term risk the Fed itself weighed a day before the appointments. The main policy rate stands between 3.5% and 3.75% ahead of the 28–29 Jul meeting.
The task forces will "operate independently, with a mandate to follow the evidence," Warsh said, and are due to report to the FOMC by year-end.
Friends since their Stanford days
Warsh, a Fed governor from 2006 to 2011, who was nominated as chair by President Donald Trump, has known Andreessen since the two attended Stanford three decades ago, and the investor, a Trump ally, publicly backed his nomination. The wider review, which rattled markets at his hawkish debut, also covers Fed communications, the roughly $7tn balance sheet, data collection and inflation frameworks, drawing in former central bankers Mervyn King and Raghuram Rajan.
