Major American banks have reported unauthorized artificial intelligence bots inside consumer accounts, sources told Axios Thursday.
The infiltration is happening faster than the financial institutions can respond to it. Even more concerning, some of the agents appear to be acting independently, performing actions that users did not request or automate.
Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo are just some of the banks racing to contain the AI-related risk. Part of the containment strategy involves rapidly rewriting and redeploying terms of service to their clients in order to firmly restrict the use of AI from their platforms.
Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Citi are in the process of restricting third-party agents from accessing their platforms entirely, according to Axios.
Bank executives described the situation to Axios as “horrifying.” One official told the digital newsroom that the industry has “grave concerns” about whether or not the rampant threat could impact user finances.
Executives reportedly recognize that a growing demographic of banking clients are interested in using their own AI agents to perform financial tasks and transactions. However, the risk is currently too high to allow individual clients that kind of access, particularly at the rate at which the revolutionary technology is adapting and changing.
Another banking executive told Axios that it is difficult to distinguish between authorized AI agents and agents that have “gone rogue” and inappropriately accessed a customer account.
“Banks are investing in preventing worst-case scenarios, but they are also preparing in case they do happen, including with ‘day after’ scenario planning that would allow them to quickly secure or restore customer access,” Axios reported.