How Robinhood Uses Generative AI and Amazon Nova to Make Investing Accessible and Affordable

An Innovative Financial Services Leader Finds the Right AI Solution: Robinhood and Amazon Nova

Robinhood transformed online brokerage by making investing accessible to everyone. Since its 2013 launch, the company eliminated commission fees and introduced a user-friendly platform that appeals to modern investors. With over 25 million customers worldwide, Robinhood stands out as a technology leader in financial services.

Driven by the mission to "democratize finance for all," Robinhood prioritizes accessibility, especially for first-time investors. This focus has kept the app among the top finance apps on the Apple App Store for over a decade. CEO Vlad Tenev emphasizes the importance of lowering barriers so more people can invest earlier, which benefits both the economy and society.

Built entirely on the cloud, Robinhood leverages AWS to power its online business, update its mobile app, securely store data, and analyze business performance. In 2025, Robinhood plans to launch Robinhood Cortex, an AI-driven investment tool providing real-time market insights. This tool aims to give retail investors access to premium-level analysis typically reserved for institutions or wealthy individuals.

AI/ML Built Around Customer Needs

Operating in a highly regulated environment, Robinhood approaches technology with care. The company’s no-fee, straightforward app attracted a broad customer base needing speed, security, and reliability, along with more advanced services for active traders.

Robinhood’s machine learning team sought a seamless way to scale AI solutions from experimentation to full deployment. They looked to AWS for a platform that supports advanced AI tooling while maintaining strict data security.

After exploring options in 2023, Robinhood chose Amazon Bedrock, a managed service offering access to foundation models (FMs) from multiple providers. Bedrock allows customization without compromising privacy—customer data stays within Robinhood’s secure environment, never shared outside their virtual private cloud.

To support growing demand from power users, Robinhood is testing Amazon Nova. Nova offers up to 80% lower cost per token compared to other models, making it viable for high-volume applications like fraud detection, document processing, and AI-generated content. Nova also supports autonomous AI agents capable of independent decision-making and adaptive workflows.

Dushan Tharmal, Principal Product Manager at Amazon AGI, highlights the collaboration: “Amazon Nova models can be customized through Bedrock Model Distillation, which compresses larger models into smaller, faster, and cost-effective ones. This helps Robinhood deploy new AI capabilities securely and at a fraction of the usual cost.”

Amazon Nova Adds Value for Robinhood and Its Customers

Thanks to AWS, Robinhood scales new AI-powered services without the heavy infrastructure costs typical of traditional brokerages. This supports a richer customer experience while staying true to the company’s values: simplicity, clarity, low cost, speed, security, and reliability.

Robinhood’s head of AI, Dev Tagare, notes, “Amazon Nova matches our mission perfectly. It delivers fast, accurate results at very low cost. Integrating Nova through Amazon Bedrock makes large-scale AI tasks easier and more affordable for us.”

Robinhood’s adoption of generative AI solutions like Amazon Nova demonstrates how financial firms can enhance service offerings while maintaining strict control over data and costs. For finance professionals interested in AI applications, exploring similar tools can unlock new opportunities in customer engagement, risk management, and operational efficiency.

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