Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that he will stick on as head of the US central bank until his successor is confirmed, and that he will not leave the institution until a criminal investigation into the Fed is resolved.

“If my successor is not confirmed by the end of my term as chair, I will serve as chair until that is resolved,” Powell said at a press conference after the end of the Fed’s latest two-day policy meeting. He said “the law calls for it” and “that’s what we’ve done on many occasions, including involving myself, and that’s what we’re going to do in this situation.”

Powell’s term as Fed chief ends in May. President Donald Trump has nominated former Fed governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell, but Warsh has yet to be confirmed in that role by the Senate.

The timing of his possible confirmation is unclear, and the process is unlikely to proceed until the conclusion of a criminal investigation into the central bank launched by the US Department of Justice.

Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee, has said Warsh will not be confirmed until the investigation is complete. A US judge last week quashed subpoenas linked to the probe, which appeared to clear the way for formal Senate consideration of the Warsh nomination.

A Department of Justice official, however, said the ruling would be appealed.

“I have no intention of leaving the board until the investigation is well and truly completed with transparency and finality,” Powell told reporters Wednesday, referring to his seat on the Fed’s board of governors.

Even after leaving the central bank’s top job, Powell could remain Fed governor until 2028. He told reporters on Wednesday that he would take the decision at the right time. The Fed chief usually leaves the central bank when his leadership term ends.

Powell said on Wednesday that rate hikes were not the expected course of monetary policy.

Officials discussed the possibility that “our next step could be an extension,” but “most of the participants don’t see that as their original case,” Powell said at a press conference after their policy meeting. But he added, “We don’t take things off the table.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that generative artificial intelligence tools will certainly contribute to productivity in the coming years, but urged caution about whether the impact of AI will be disinflationary.

Powell said at a news conference after the Fed kept rates steady that the current US AI data center building boom is currently putting price pressure on many goods and services and “probably pushing inflation to the margins.”

In the near term, “you’re not looking at something that will call for lower rates right away, or that will reduce inflation over time,” Powell said.

He added that whether AI will expand supply faster than demand is an “empirical question,” but that it will contribute to higher productivity over time.

“Higher productivity is something that allows revenue to increase over time, and so that’s a great thing,” Powell said.