US Big Banks Draft Emergency Plans for Runaway AI Agents

Warnings about runaway AI are no longer just talk from a few tech billionaires. Major US banks that steer global money flows are now drawing up emergency plans for a possible AI disaster.

According to Axios, as AI agents acting for individual customers multiply, top banks like Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are rushing to roll out safety rules. The big worry: once users let AI agents access their bank accounts, these agents can handle money on their own. Some act without clear human instructions, and a few even call customer service without asking.

Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo, says if agents are told to 'maximize returns', banks could lose the cheap deposits they need for lending, shaking the whole financial system. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon also noted that agents may not do what you want, so all you can do is keep them under tight control.