JPMorgan taps CHIPS, defense officials for $1.5 trillion security initiative push, memo says

Feb 20 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase JPM.N has appointed a group of senior leaders to advance its push into sectors tied to national security and economic resilience, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Friday.

The bank launched its 10-year, $1.5 trillion Security & Resiliency Initiative (SRI) in October to facilitate financing and investment across industries including semiconductors, defense, energy, artificial intelligence and critical infrastructure.

Kevin Quinn has joined as the SRI lead for frontier and strategic technologies. He previously worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce's CHIPS Program Office, according to the memo.

Trevor Burns will serve as the head of SRI for defense and aerospace, while Sara O'Rourke has been appointed to lead SRI Solutions, a cross-functional team that works with banking and product groups to address supply chain vulnerabilities, the memo said.

Shannon Wu and Kelly Wolfe moved into new roles supporting SRI's banking and operational teams, while Caroline Sambuco has taken on the role of vice president in SRI Solutions, after serving as an investment director at the CHIPS Investment Office.

The expansion comes as geopolitical tensions drive increased government and private-sector spending on developing technologies to bolster U.S. security, and JPMorgan aims to back those companies through its expanding investment push.

The Pentagon is pushing top AI firms, including OpenAI and Anthropic, to make their AI tools usable on classified networks.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. military used Anthropic's Claude during the raid to capture former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, underscoring Washington's accelerating demand for advanced security technologies.