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Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach on Friday said Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) offers ‘tremendous opportunities’ and companies should follow self-regulation to unlock its potential.

Miebach also suggested that companies using GenAI should follow four key principles — transparency, privacy and security, accountability and integrity — before a full-fledged regulation comes in for the sector.

When there were concerns of data security and privacy, digital finance companies had adopted a self-regulation model, he said.

“Mastercard very simply said you are a customer, you control your data, you benefit from your data and it’s the industry’s job to keep it safe. Can we do the same thing with AI. As an industry can (we do) a self regulation and that (can) lead into regulatory frameworks. Absolutely we can,” said the CEO of the US-based payments technology major.

“As a company that deals in trust, and safety and security, our focus in AI has always been to make payment transaction safe and secure. We need to balance the excitement about what this technology could do with the risk that is out there,” Miebach said.

Stating that GenAI has tremendous opportunities, the CEO said “want of regulation should not slow us down because we need this GenAI technology and we need it quick.”

There is a need to unlock the tremendous opportunity out of GenAI, Miebach added.

In another development, the UAE’s Office for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications and MasterCard have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost the region’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and readiness.

The partnership follows the opening of Mastercard’s latest hub for advanced artificial intelligence and cybertechnology in Dubai.