INVESTMENTS (Details - Summary of fair value and gross unrealized losses on available for sale securities aggregated by major investment category and length of time in a continuous unrealized loss position) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	$ 70,800	$ 31,657
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	2,679	726
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	36,110	15,127
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	2,129	655
Fair Value, Total	106,910	46,784
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	4,808	1,381
Bonds available for sale
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	70,800	31,520
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	2,679	705
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	36,110	15,127
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	2,129	655
Fair Value, Total	106,910	46,647
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	$ 4,808	1,360
Number of securities in an unrealized loss position | item	16,876
Number of individual securities in continuous unrealized loss position for longer than twelve months | item	5,127
Bonds available for sale | U.S. government and government sponsored entities
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	$ 574	770
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	13	23
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	873	332
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	29	13
Fair Value, Total	1,447	1,102
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	42	36
Bonds available for sale | Obligations of states, municipalities and political subdivisions
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	1,965	586
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	51	6
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	1,530	646
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	70	24
Fair Value, Total	3,495	1,232
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	121	30
Bonds available for sale | Non-U.S. governments
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	3,851	3,511
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	149	54
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	2,422	857
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	153	63
Fair Value, Total	6,273	4,368
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	302	117
Bonds available for sale | Corporate debt
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	47,364	15,578
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	2,181	453
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	20,056	7,291
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	1,466	347
Fair Value, Total	67,420	22,869
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	3,647	800
Bonds available for sale | Residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS)
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	5,231	6,212
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	94	99
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	5,641	3,790
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	223	121
Fair Value, Total	10,872	10,002
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	317	220
Bonds available for sale | Commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS)
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	2,646	3,408
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	47	46
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	4,264	1,389
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	167	59
Fair Value, Total	6,910	4,797
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	214	105
Bonds available for sale | Collateralized Debt Obligations/Asset-Backed Securities (CDO/ABS)
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	9,169	1,455
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	144	24
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	1,324	822
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	21	28
Fair Value, Total	10,493	2,277
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	165	52
Equity securities available for sale
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months	0	137
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months	0	21
Fair Value, 12 Months or More	0	0
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More	0	0
Fair Value, Total	0	137
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total	$ 0	21
Number of securities in an unrealized loss position | item	0
Equity securities available for sale | Common Stock
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months		136
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months		21
Fair Value, 12 Months or More		0
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More		0
Fair Value, Total		136
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total		21
Equity securities available for sale | Mutual Funds
Fair value and gross unrealized losses on AIG's available for sale securities
Fair Value, Less than 12 Months		1
Gross Unrealized Losses, Less than 12 Months		0
Fair Value, 12 Months or More		0
Gross Unrealized Losses, 12 Months or More		0
Fair Value, Total		1
Gross Unrealized Losses, Total		$ 0