U.S. and European regulators are examining how banks use advanced AI systems, as concerns grow over cyberattacks, autonomous agents and the ability to recover from major technology failures.
Banking regulators in the United States and Europe are stepping up scrutiny of artificial intelligence use across the financial sector, concerned that rapidly advancing technology could expose banks and financial markets to new risks.
According to a Reuters report, U.S. regulators, including the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, are asking banks how they deploy advanced AI systems. Their questions focus on autonomous AI agents used in cybersecurity, safeguards against unauthorized actions, human oversight and whether decisions made by these systems can be audited.
Regulators are also examining banks’ reliance on foreign-developed technology, including Chinese AI systems.
In Europe, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank are focusing on how quickly banks can recover if their technology infrastructure is compromised. Supervisors are urging lenders to strengthen backup systems, map their reliance on external technology providers and ensure critical operations can be safely restarted after an attack.
The concerns come as banks race to adopt AI tools capable of carrying out complex tasks with limited human supervision. Recent cyber incidents have added urgency to the debate, while regulators warn that security controls may not be keeping pace with technological advances.
For now, U.S. authorities are gathering information rather than imposing new AI-specific requirements. European supervisors are also emphasizing resilience and recovery planning, although the cost of building independent backup systems could be significant.
The challenge for regulators is to ensure that banks can benefit from AI without allowing new technology to create vulnerabilities that could disrupt essential financial services.
