What AI research, patents and partnerships does First Citizens have?
First Citizens' AI research output is market research, not model research: its Silicon Valley Bank division, renamed First Citizens Innovation Banking in October 2026, publishes 20-plus signature reports a year, and AI has become their main subject. They found that one in four healthcare investment dollars went to AI companies (June 2024), AI took 58% of US VC dollars (August 2025), AI was 46% of healthcare investment in 2025 (January 2026) and that 42% of 9,000 VC-backed companies marketing themselves as AI show little evidence that AI is central to their technology (H2 2026). Named AI partners are few: Microsoft (an enterprise Copilot rollout), CB Insights, whose ChatCBI agent and MCP tools are offered to SVB startup clients (September 2026), Corgi's AI-native insurance (June 2026), AI tools from ElevenLabs, Lovable Labs, Patlytics and Replit in the SVB Offers marketplace, and Pinegrove Venture Partners, a venture lender focused on areas including AI and compute infrastructure, with which SVB had originated $1.7 billion of commitments by June 30, 2026. No university AI center, frontier-lab partnership or AI venture investment by the bank itself is public, and BankingNewsAI found no AI patent assigned to the bank.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Data as of Oct 16, 2026 · First Citizens profile updated Oct 13, 2026 · 17 sources cited on this page · 140 banks profiled on this site · Markdown
What has First Citizens' innovation-banking research found about AI?
Reports from the Silicon Valley Bank division (First Citizens Innovation Banking from October 2026), with the headline AI finding of each as the bank published it. These are market studies built on proprietary and PitchBook data, not technical research.
| Report | AI finding | Date |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Powered Healthcare Experience | A record one in four healthcare investment dollars goes to companies leveraging AI; 60% of healthcare AI dollars go to administrative and clinical uses; $11.1 billion of AI healthcare VC projected for 2024 | June 11, 2024[3] |
| Future of Frontier Technology 2025 | VC investment in frontier technology up 47% year over year, driven by AI-driven demand for compute power, defense innovation and industrial automation | June 10, 2025[11] |
| Healthcare Investments and Exits, 16th edition | All healthcare sectors saw strong growth in AI deal activity over three years while companies not leveraging AI saw a 20% decrease; AI-related healthtech deals doubled in 12 months | July 29, 2025[12] |
| State of the Markets (mid-2025) | AI companies took 36% of US VC deals and 58% of VC dollars; the median Series A AI company burned $5 to gain $1 of new revenue | August 5, 2025[4] |
| Future of Fintech 2025 | AI was 58% of VC investment in 2025; AI-enabled fintech startups accounted for 30% of total VC investment; fintech is 'one of the least saturated spaces for AI adoption' | October 21, 2025[13] |
| Healthcare Investments and Exits, 17th edition | AI accounted for 46% of healthcare investment in 2025 | January 8, 2026[5] |
| State of the Markets H1 2026 | $560 billion of US VC into AI since 2022; AI-related categories contributed 10% to 30% of quarterly US GDP growth in 2025 | March 2026[14] |
| State of the Markets H2 2026 | 42% of 9,000 VC-backed companies that market themselves as AI show little evidence AI is central to their technology ('AI washing'); about 1,600 new founders could emerge from SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs | July 2026 (data through June 30, 2026)[6] |
Who are First Citizens' AI partners?
Every partner the bank or the partner has named publicly. Most are offered to innovation-banking clients rather than used by the bank itself.
| Partner | Type | What it is | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Productivity AI (bank's own use) | Enterprise rollout of Microsoft Copilot for associate productivity | September 2026[7] |
| CB Insights | Client partner network | SVB startup clients get CB Insights market intelligence, its ChatCBI AI agent and model context protocol (MCP) tools for market analysis and target sourcing | September 17, 2026[8] |
| ElevenLabs, Lovable Labs, Patlytics, Replit | Client marketplace | AI offers listed in the SVB division's partner marketplace, where clients get discounts or credits | September 2026[7] |
| Corgi Insurance | Client referral | SVB connects clients to Corgi's AI-native insurance platform and underwriting | June 17, 2026[9] |
| Pinegrove Venture Partners | Lending relationship | Worked alongside SVB's venture lending platform since 2012, formalised December 2024; lends to areas including AI and compute infrastructure; $1.7 billion of commitments originated together by June 30, 2026 | 2012; 2024; 2026[10][1] |
| Industry forums, FFIEC and NIST | Standards | Works with financial-industry partners in industry forums on best practices against Frontier AI threats; layered defense aligned to FFIEC guidance, NIST 800-53 and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework | July 2026[15] |
What AI research and IP does First Citizens not have?
No in-house research publication program, academic center or model-provider partnership is on the record. The bank's own description of its AI work is an in-house team building 'platform building blocks' and a Microsoft Copilot rollout; no frontier lab, GPU or cloud-AI vendor is named.[7]
The research the bank does publish is a client product: the SVB fact sheet counts 20-plus signature reports a year 'based on proprietary and industry data', and the State of the Markets series is written by the division's president and its market-insights researchers.[1][6]
The 2025 10-K lists, among AI risks, that generative AI models may 'infringe intellectual property', and that third-party model development brings risks including 'unauthorized material in training data'; it says nothing about the bank's own AI intellectual property.[16]
What does the First Citizens profile record on this topic?
The rows below are the entries of the First Citizens AI strategy profile that bear on this page, as of Oct 13, 2026; the profile holds the full record of 27 dated moves, 14 use cases and 31 sources.
| Use case | What the record shows | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-sector research (innovation banking) | SVB reports on AI funding, healthcare and 'zombiecorns'. | In production | [5][17] |
| CB Insights ChatCBI via SVB partner network | An MCP-based AI agent for market analysis and target sourcing, offered to SVB startup-banking clients through the SVB Offers partner program. | In production | [8] |
| Corgi AI-native insurance for SVB clients | SVB routes startups and growth companies to Corgi's AI-native underwriting platform for coverage needed in fundraising, hiring and sales. | In production | [9] |
| Date | Move | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 17, 2026 | CB Insights joins SVB's partner network with its ChatCBI AI agent | SVB (a First Citizens division) clients gain access to CB Insights' market intelligence on 13 million companies and ChatCBI, an AI agent using model context protocol (MCP) tools for market analysis and target sourcing. | [8] |
| Jul 27, 2026 | SVB fact sheet for 2Q26 sets out the innovation-banking book | $123 billion of client funds, $48 billion of loans and $1.7 billion of loan commitments originated with Pinegrove at June 30, 2026; research reports cover AI among other topics; rebrand to First Citizens Innovation Banking set for Q4 2026. | [1] |
| Jun 17, 2026 | Corgi Insurance partnership for SVB clients | SVB connects clients to Corgi's AI-native insurance platform, with AI-native underwriting aimed at simpler applications and tailored pricing for startups in AI, SaaS, fintech and healthcare. | [9] |
| May 13, 2026 | Pinegrove and Temasek venture-debt partnership names SVB relationship | Pinegrove Credit Partners says it has worked alongside SVB's venture lending platform since 2012 and formalised a strategic lending relationship in December 2024; its lending focus includes AI and compute infrastructure. | [10] |
| Mar 1, 2026 | SVB H1 2026 State of the Markets report | AI has attracted $560 billion of US VC since 2022, equal to dot-com era deployment; AI-related investment categories contributed 10% to 30% of quarterly US GDP growth in 2025. | [14] |
| Jan 8, 2026 | SVB report: AI was 46% of healthcare investment in 2025 | The 17th Healthcare Investments and Exits report. | [5] |
| Aug 5, 2025 | SVB State of the Markets: AI took 58% of US VC dollars | AI companies accounted for 36% of VC deals and 58% of total VC investment; the median Series A AI company burned $5 to gain $1 of new revenue. Marc Cadieux co-authored the report. | [4] |
| May 20, 2025 | SVB report: 40% of US startup funding came from AI-focused funds | The 'zombiecorn' report on AI cash and struggling unicorns. | [17] |
Does First Citizens hold any AI patents?
None on the public record. An assignee search of Google Patents in October 2026 returned no AI-related patent or application assigned to First-Citizens Bank & Trust; the bank's name appears only as secured party on borrowers' patents. The bank has not described any patent program, and its 2025 10-K discusses intellectual-property risk from generative AI only as a risk of using such models.
What AI research does Silicon Valley Bank publish under First Citizens?
Market research on AI investment. Recent editions found AI took 58% of US VC dollars (August 2025), 46% of healthcare investment in 2025 (January 2026), and that 42% of 9,000 VC-backed companies marketing themselves as AI show little evidence AI is central to their technology (H2 2026 State of the Markets). Earlier reports covered AI in healthcare (June 2024) and frontier technology (June 2025).
Does First Citizens work with OpenAI, Anthropic or Google?
No such partnership is public. The only AI technology provider the bank names for its own use is Microsoft, through the enterprise Copilot rollout. Its innovation-banking division offers clients tools from CB Insights, ElevenLabs, Lovable Labs, Patlytics and Replit, and its research has discussed the possible OpenAI and Anthropic IPOs, but that is commentary, not a relationship.
What is the CB Insights partnership with SVB?
Announced September 17, 2026, it adds CB Insights to the SVB Offers partner program: SVB startup-banking clients get access to CB Insights' private-company intelligence and its ChatCBI AI agent and model context protocol tools for market analysis and target sourcing, to find partners, customers, investors, talent and exit opportunities.
Is Pinegrove an AI partner of First Citizens?
It is a lending partner whose focus includes AI. Pinegrove Credit Partners lends to venture-backed companies in areas including AI and compute infrastructure, defense, space, energy and robotics; it has worked alongside SVB's venture lending platform since 2012 and formalised a strategic lending relationship in December 2024. SVB reported $1.7 billion of loan commitments originated together by June 30, 2026.
- Silicon Valley Bank Fact Sheet 2Q26
- First Citizens Bank Launches New Innovation Banking Brand
- AI Investments Dominate Healthcare; Silicon Valley Bank Releases New AI Patient Journey Report
- AI Continues to Fuel US VC Investment Despite Higher Burn Rates; Silicon Valley Bank Releases Latest State of the Markets Report
- AI Investment Accounted for Nearly Half of Healthcare Investment in 2025 (SVB report)
- State of the Markets Report H2 2026
- A Q&A With Scott Richardson: AI at First Citizens Bank
- CB Insights Joins Silicon Valley Bank's Partner Network to Give Innovators a Competitive Edge
- Corgi Insurance and Silicon Valley Bank Partner to Connect Clients to Preferred Coverage Solutions
- Pinegrove Credit Partners and Temasek Announce Strategic Partnership to Support Innovation Through Venture Debt
- Investment in Frontier Technology Increases Year Over Year; Silicon Valley Bank Releases New Report
- AI Deal Activity Remains Strong in Healthcare Amid Decline in Fundraising; Silicon Valley Bank Releases 16th Edition of Healthcare Investments and Exits Report
- Fintech Investment Remains Stable Offering Opportunities for Growth Outside of AI; Silicon Valley Bank Releases Annual Fintech Report
- State of the Markets Report H1 2026
- Frontier AI Fact Sheet
- First Citizens BancShares Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2025
- AI startups have plenty of cash, while more unicorns are struggling
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