# BMO (U.S.): Research and IP

Source: https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/bmo-us/ai-research-patents-partnerships
Last updated: Oct 16, 2026

*Part of the [BMO (U.S.) AI strategy profile](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/bmo-us).*

## What AI research, patents and partnerships does BMO have?

BMO's research, patents and partnerships are group-level, held by Bank of Montreal. Patents include a granted machine-learning flood-hazard patent (US 12,236,505, February 2025) and published applications on deep-learning image recognition (August 2025), neural-network cash-flow prediction (October 2025), reducing machine-learning bias with fairness metrics (US 2025/0315738, October 2025) and machine-learning database search (April 2026). Its AI Hub lists research on programmable quantum decision trees and a 150-page AI Primer from BMO's analysts. The longest partnership is the Vector Institute, which BMO has backed since 2017 and renewed for five years in May 2026 as a platinum partner; academic support also goes to McGill, Rotman and Waterloo, with a two-year PhD-level quantum research partnership with the University of Thrace (DUTH). BMO was the first Canadian bank in the IBM Quantum Network (February 2025) and joined the Chicago Quantum Exchange in April 2026. Commercial partners named in public sources are Microsoft (Copilot), FIS with Anthropic (an AML agent in development), Codat, and AWS with FICO. In September 2026 BMO invested in Radical Ventures' Breakouts Fund for late-stage AI companies. Contract values are not public, and none of these ties is described as U.S.-only. ([Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12236505B2/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250252310A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250335967A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250315738A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119566A1/en), [BMO AI Hub](https://ai.bmo.com/research-case-studies), [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2026-05-28-BMO-Renews-Five-Year-Partnership-with-Vector-Institute-to-Advance-Responsible-AI), [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2025-10-23-BMO-Earns-Top-Recognition-for-AI-Talent-Development-in-Global-Banking), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/bmos-kristin-milchanowski-is-39-on-the-most-innovative-people-in-finance-ranking), [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2025-02-06-BMO-Joins-IBM-Quantum-Network-to-Accelerate-Innovation-of-Financial-Services), [BMO](https://bmo.com/en-us/main/about-bmo/news-insights/blog/innovation-with-impact), [Bank of Montreal (SEC filing)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/927971/000119312526105793/d76162dex991.htm), [Business Wire via FT Markets](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202605041800BIZWIRE_USPRX____20260504_BW126906-1), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-bmo-uses-ai-to-get-more-of-business-clients-business), [Amazon Web Services](https://aws.amazon.com/cn/partners/success/bmo-fico/), [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2026-09-15-BMO-Invests-in-Radical-Ventures-Breakouts-Fund-to-Help-Scale-Next-Generation-of-AI-Talent-and-Drive-Economic-Growth))

## Which AI patents and applications does Bank of Montreal hold?

Assignee Bank of Montreal, from Google Patents. Granted patents carry a grant date; applications carry a publication date and are not yet rights.

| Number | Title | Status | Date | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| US 2026/0119566 A1 | Machine-learning database search and knowledge mining: learns table relationships from query logs and builds a graph database | Application published | April 30, 2026 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119566A1/en) |
| US 2025/0335967 A1 | Artificial-intelligence modelling to predict negative cash flow in electronic accounts with a deep neural network | Application published | October 30, 2025 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250335967A1/en) |
| US 2025/0315738 A1 | Reducing machine-learning bias: infers a protected-class dataset, computes fairness metrics and adjusts the model (continuation of 2021 and 2024 filings) | Application published (pending) | October 9, 2025 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250315738A1/en) |
| US 2025/0252310 A1 | Deep-learning-based system and process for image recognition | Application published | August 7, 2025 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250252310A1/en) |
| US 12,236,505 B2 | Flood hazard estimation using a GAN-trained machine-learning model and satellite elevation data | Granted | February 25, 2025 | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US12236505B2/en) |
| Quantum algorithm for earthquake prediction | Provisional patent filed by the chief AI and quantum officer, as reported by Bloomberg | Provisional | May 1, 2026 | [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-01/bmo-turns-to-ai-and-quantum-computing-to-predict-earthquakes) |

## Who are BMO's AI partners, and where has it invested?

As announced by BMO or its partners. Group level unless stated; amounts are not disclosed.

| Partner | Type | What it is | Date | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Vector Institute | Research institute | Founding supporter since 2017; five-year renewal as platinum partner covering research access, applied projects, upskilling and recruiting; joint work on LLMs, responsible AI governance and AI risk management | May 28, 2026 | [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2026-05-28-BMO-Renews-Five-Year-Partnership-with-Vector-Institute-to-Advance-Responsible-AI) |
| McGill, Rotman and Waterloo | Universities | Funding and collaboration for university-led AI programs | October 2025 | [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2025-10-23-BMO-Earns-Top-Recognition-for-AI-Talent-Development-in-Global-Banking) |
| University of Thrace (DUTH) | University | Two-year PhD-level research partnership on quantum game theory | 2026 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/bmos-kristin-milchanowski-is-39-on-the-most-innovative-people-in-finance-ranking) |
| IBM Quantum Network | Quantum computing | First Canadian bank with access; portfolio optimisation and risk-management research | February 6, 2025 | [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2025-02-06-BMO-Joins-IBM-Quantum-Network-to-Accelerate-Innovation-of-Financial-Services) |
| Chicago Quantum Exchange and Quantum Industry Canada | Quantum consortia | Commercialisation, research and workforce partnerships across North America | April 13, 2026 | [BMO](https://bmo.com/en-us/main/about-bmo/news-insights/blog/innovation-with-impact) |
| FINOS | Standards body | Vendor-neutral AI controls with Citi, Morgan Stanley and RBC alongside AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud | June 24, 2025 | [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/banks-cloud-providers-ai-governance-standards-finos-citi-morgan-stanley-rbc-bmo/751698/) |
| FIS with Anthropic | Vendor (AML agent) | Among the first institutions developing the Financial Crimes AI Agent; general availability planned H2 2026; U.S. scope not stated | May 4, 2026 | [Business Wire via FT Markets](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202605041800BIZWIRE_USPRX____20260504_BW126906-1) |
| Microsoft | Vendor | Copilot and Copilot Chat are approved AI tools under the AI Risk Directive | March 13, 2026 | [Bank of Montreal (SEC filing)](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/927971/000119312526105793/d76162dex991.htm) |
| Codat; AWS with FICO; Dataiku | Vendors | Codat payments data for business-client recommendations; credit decisioning on the FICO Platform on AWS; Dataiku used to analyse client calls | 2026 | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-bmo-uses-ai-to-get-more-of-business-clients-business), [Amazon Web Services](https://aws.amazon.com/cn/partners/success/bmo-fico/), [BMO AI Hub](https://ai.bmo.com/research/our-work-with-dataiku/) |
| Radical Ventures Breakouts Fund | Venture investment | Strategic investment in a fund for scaling AI companies, which secured more than US$1 billion in commitments | September 15, 2026 | [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2026-09-15-BMO-Invests-in-Radical-Ventures-Breakouts-Fund-to-Help-Scale-Next-Generation-of-AI-Talent-and-Drive-Economic-Growth) |

## What research does BMO publish on AI?

BMO's AI Hub lists a paper on programmable quantum decision trees (linked to its journal article), a 150-plus page AI Primer from BMO's analysts that scores companies across the 'Full Stack AI' landscape, and case studies with Dataiku, Dynatrace and Pluralsight. ([BMO AI Hub](https://ai.bmo.com/research-case-studies), [BMO AI Hub](https://ai.bmo.com/research/programmable-quantum-decision-trees/), [BMO AI Hub](https://ai.bmo.com/research/post-model-wars-assessing-the-next-ai-frontier/))

Applied output named in awards and press: a 12-month mortgage forecasting model combining time-series methods and deep learning that cut prediction errors by up to 50% (Digital Banker, October 2025), and, in Capital Markets, Erqu, a conversational layer over BMO's equity research, and MORA, an end-to-end due-diligence agent (2025). ([BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2025-10-30-BMO-Wins-11-Honours-for-AI-and-Digital-Innovation), [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/bmos-kristin-milchanowski-is-39-on-the-most-innovative-people-in-finance-ranking))

BMO's AI patents are filed by Bank of Montreal and cover credit, account and document analytics more than client-facing generative AI; no published application on agents or large language models turned up in the October 2026 search. ([Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119566A1/en), [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250315738A1/en))

## What does the BMO profile record on this topic?

| Date | Move | Detail | Sources |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| May 4, 2026 | Named by FIS among the first in development with its Anthropic-built AML agent | FIS says BMO and Amalgamated Bank are in development with the agent (group level; the release does not say whether the US bank is involved). FIS says it compresses investigations from days to minutes; general availability is planned for H2 2026. | [Business Wire via FT Markets](https://markets.ft.com/data/announce/detail?dockey=600-202605041800BIZWIRE_USPRX____20260504_BW126906-1) |
| May 4, 2026 | Codat machine learning for business-client recommendations | Payments and payables data via APIs drive next-product suggestions for salespeople. | [American Banker](https://www.americanbanker.com/news/how-bmo-uses-ai-to-get-more-of-business-clients-business) |
| May 1, 2026 | Quantum algorithm patent for earthquake prediction | Milchanowski's provisional patent, part of the US expansion story. | [Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-01/bmo-turns-to-ai-and-quantum-computing-to-predict-earthquakes) |
| Apr 30, 2026 | Patent application: machine-learning database search | US 2026/0119566 A1, assigned to Bank of Montreal, describes a server that learns table relationships from query logs and builds a graph database. | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20260119566A1/en) |
| Apr 24, 2026 | 'Return on Intelligence' podcast launched | Interviews on applying AI and quantum across businesses. | [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2026-04-24-BMO-Launches-Return-on-Intelligence-Podcast-AI,-Quantum,-and-the-New-Rules-of-Decision-Making) |
| Apr 13, 2026 | Chicago Quantum Exchange and Quantum Industry Canada partnerships | BMO describes new partnerships for commercialisation, research and workforce development across North America. | [BMO](https://bmo.com/en-us/main/about-bmo/news-insights/blog/innovation-with-impact) |
| Apr 9, 2026 | Institute for Applied AI & Quantum established | Milchanowski appointed Chief AI & Quantum Officer; adoption above 96%. | [BMO](https://newsroom.bmo.com/2026-04-09-BMO-Establishes-Institute-for-Applied-Artificial-Intelligence-Quantum), [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/bmo-launches-ai-quantum-computing-institute/817076/) |
| Dec 4, 2025 | Q4 fiscal 2025 call: GenAI tool for all staff, IBM Quantum Network | Darryl White cites more than 80% active users of the GenAI productivity tool, first Canadian bank access to the IBM Quantum Network, and machine and reinforcement learning in credit and capital markets. | [Investing.com](https://investing.com/news/transcripts/earnings-call-transcript-bank-of-montreal-q4-2025-earnings-beat-expectations-93CH-4391363) |
| Oct 30, 2025 | Patent application: neural-network cash-flow prediction | US 2025/0335967 A1, assigned to Bank of Montreal, covers a deep neural network that predicts negative cash flow at user level from account data. | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250335967A1/en) |
| Aug 7, 2025 | Patent application: deep-learning image recognition | US 2025/0252310 A1, assigned to Bank of Montreal, claims a neural-network system and process for image recognition. | [Google Patents (USPTO)](https://patents.google.com/patent/US20250252310A1/en) |
| Jun 24, 2025 | Joins FINOS effort on vendor-neutral AI standards | With Citi, Morgan Stanley and RBC, alongside AWS, Microsoft and Google Cloud. | [Banking Dive](https://www.bankingdive.com/news/banks-cloud-providers-ai-governance-standards-finos-citi-morgan-stanley-rbc-bmo/751698/) |

## Common questions

### What AI patents does BMO have?

Bank of Montreal holds granted US 12,236,505 B2 for machine-learning flood hazard maps (February 25, 2025) and has published applications on deep-learning image recognition (August 2025), neural-network cash-flow prediction (October 2025), reducing machine-learning bias with fairness metrics (October 2025) and machine-learning database search (April 2026). Its chief AI and quantum officer also filed a provisional quantum patent.

### Is BMO working with Anthropic or OpenAI?

FIS named BMO, with Amalgamated Bank, among the first institutions developing its Financial Crimes AI Agent built with Anthropic, announced May 4, 2026, with general availability planned for the second half of 2026; the release does not say whether the U.S. bank is involved. BMO has not announced a direct contract with Anthropic or OpenAI. Microsoft Copilot is an approved employee tool.

### What is BMO's relationship with the Vector Institute?

BMO has been a founding supporter of Toronto's Vector Institute since 2017 and renewed the partnership for five more years on May 28, 2026 as a platinum-level industry partner. The partnership gives BMO access to Vector's researchers, applied projects, staff training and recruiting, and has covered large language models, responsible AI governance and AI risk management.

### Does BMO invest in AI startups?

In September 2026 BMO made a strategic investment in Radical Ventures' Breakouts Fund, which backs high-growth AI companies and secured more than US$1 billion in commitments. The size of BMO's commitment was not disclosed, and no direct U.S. AI venture stake has been announced.

### Does BMO publish AI research?

Yes, on a small scale. Its AI Hub lists a paper on programmable quantum decision trees, a 150-plus page AI Primer from its analysts, and case studies with Dataiku, Dynatrace and Pluralsight, and the Institute for Applied AI & Quantum, created in April 2026, brings together science, policy and ethics expertise.
## Deeper on BMO

- [What is BMO's AI strategy, and how does it reach the U.S. bank?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/bmo-us/ai-strategy)
- [How does BMO govern AI responsibly?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/bmo-us/responsible-ai)
- [How is BMO training and organizing its workforce for AI?](https://www.bankingnewsai.com/banks/bmo-us/ai-workforce)


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