FTC Chair: Companies Can't Blame AI Agents for Their Actions

FTC Chair: Companies Can't Blame AI Agents for Their Actions

U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson said on September 25 at a Reuters event that companies cannot treat AI agents as independent actors and pin the blame for errors on the software. He noted that when assessing harm, regulators should examine the instructions humans gave those tools, as well as the companies behind them.

Ferguson said reviews of some incidents initially described as "AI systems breaking free of human control" found that the systems were in fact following instructions. He prefers using existing legal tools to address resulting harm rather than building a separate regulatory framework for AI agents. According to Reuters, the remarks did not establish new FTC rules or assign liability in any specific case.

The stance has direct implications for merchants, banks and fintech companies. AI agents can now respond to customer requests, initiate refunds, select payment methods or initiate transactions, and each added permission gives a company one more decision to explain. For merchants, records of the instructions and controls around an agent matter as much as the outcome the agent ultimately produces. If an automated assistant sends a refund to the wrong account, the useful record begins before the transfer happens.

Source: https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/ftc-chair-says-companies-cannot-blame-ai-agents-for-their-actions/