Brokerage firms are rapidly introducing artificial intelligence-powered trading capabilities, with new offerings ranging from fully autonomous trading agents to AI assistants that require investor approval, according to a recent Jefferies industry overview.
Earlier this month, Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN), eToro Group Ltd (NASDAQ:ETOR) and Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD) launched fully automated AI agents capable of recommending investments, constructing portfolios and executing trades within user-defined parameters. These services rely on Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, allowing large language models such as Claude and GPT to securely interact with brokerage systems through a standardised interface.
Robinhood currently limits its autonomous trading platform to equities and requires customers to open a dedicated agentic trading account, although support for additional asset classes is planned. On 18 June, the company reported that more than 50,000 users had opened agentic accounts within the first few weeks, generating daily trading volumes worth millions of dollars across equities and options.
eToro’s Tori AI assistant supports trading in equities, commodities, cryptocurrencies, exchange-traded funds and foreign exchange markets. The company disclosed on 12 May that Tori had executed more than 500,000 trades during its first year and had been adopted by over one-third of its club members.
Coinbase’s AI platform currently supports both spot cryptocurrency and derivatives trading, with additional asset classes expected to follow. During its System Update event on 16 June, the company said AI agents had generated more than US$4 million in revenue through 40,000 agents on Virtuals, while Banker agents had earned in excess of US$30 million.
Firms Take Different Approaches to AI Adoption
Interactive Brokers Group Inc (NASDAQ:IBKR) introduced a semi-automated solution in June that provides stock research and live market analysis but requires investors to approve every trade under its “human in the middle” approach. The platform currently covers equities and ETFs.
Meanwhile, The Trade Desk Inc (NASDAQ:TW) and Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW) are building conversational AI assistants designed to answer market-related questions and generate portfolio summaries. However, neither platform currently offers trade recommendations or automated execution.
Schwab expects to launch its service during the second half of 2026, supporting equities, options, fixed income, mutual funds and ETFs. The Trade Desk’s platform presently focuses on U.S. corporate credit, with plans to expand into global credit and government bond markets.
Jefferies also noted a sharp increase in corporate discussions around artificial intelligence. Mentions of AI during earnings calls among the six companies nearly doubled in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the final quarter of 2025, highlighting the growing importance of AI across the brokerage industry.