M1 Launches AI Financial Advisor for Its Clients
Financial services tech firm M1 has launched M1 Advisor, an artificial intelligence financial advisor built into the company’s investing platform. The new service is free for M1 clients through 2027.
The company reactivated its registered investment advisory entity, M1 Advisory Services, to provide non-discretionary investment advisory services for the first time. There are no human advisors behind it; it’s completely driven by AI. So far, the RIA has $1.85 billion in assets under management.
“Financial advice has been priced like a luxury good for people who already had money, and its supply was capped by the number of humans doing the work,” said Brian Barnes, founder and CEO of M1, in a statement. “Human advisors provide immense value, but there are far more people who need financial advice than human advisors who have hours to serve. AI removes that cap. M1 Advisor is an AI financial advisor that gives people advice built on their actual accounts, under the same fiduciary duty a human advisor owes them.”
M1 was launched in 2016 under Barnes’s leadership as an automated investing platform. As of September 2026, the company had $14 billion in client assets on the platform and more than 400,000 clients.
Today, the company offers investing, cash and borrowing accounts, and its new AI advisor can advise on all three. The system can also connect to a client’s outside accounts, such as a 401(k), an IRA, a mortgage, or a loan, through Plaid.
The AI can’t act on its own; it answers questions and provides advice, but the client decides to take action. And since it’s SEC-registered, the advisor is a fiduciary and must disclose conflicts of interest.
M1 Advisors uses large language models and other artificial intelligence technologies from third-party providers, including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and Amazon. The firm uses an internal model governance process to evaluate and update the models over time.
The RIA uses M1 Finance, the company’s broker/dealer, for custody, as well as Apex Fintech Solutions. For accounts custodied with Apex, M1 Finance acts as the introducing broker/dealer.
