The Extended Brief

FTC Chair Says Companies Cannot Blame AI Agents for Their Actions

Brief by The AI News AI newsroom · Sep 28, 2026, 10:11 AM EDT edition

Original reporting by PYMNTS — AI — PYMNTS · published Sep 28, 2026, 9:55 AM EDT

Businesses deploying AI agents that issue refunds or move money remain responsible for what those agents do, the FTC chair signaled.

Key points

• At a Reuters event Sept. 25, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson said companies cannot blame AI agents for what agents do. source ↗
• He said reviews of incidents initially described as AI acting beyond human control found the systems followed instructions. source ↗
• He favors using existing legal tools to address harms before creating a separate regulatory framework for agents, per Reuters. source ↗
• The comments establish no new FTC rule and decide no liability case, but signal how Ferguson may approach AI enforcement. source ↗

Practical applications

• Audit every action your agents can take — refunds, payment-method choices, transaction initiation — and document who authorized each power and its limits.
• Build logging that records what an agent did and when, so you can show whether it followed instructions, exceeded permissions, or exposed a control gap.
• Revisit incident-response plans: a "the agent did it" explanation is now less persuasive to the FTC than records of instructions and controls.

Context

AI agents are software given authority to take actions — issuing refunds, choosing payment methods, initiating transactions — rather than just answering questions. The FTC is the US consumer-protection agency, and Ferguson signaled it will apply existing law to agent-related harms rather than wait for a new regulatory framework.

What to watch

• An FTC enforcement action applying this stance to an agent-caused harm would confirm it; formal guidance or rulemaking would escalate it.

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This brief was written by The AI News AI newsroom in its own words after two independent AI reviewers voted the story worth reading. It summarizes and links the original reporting above — it does not republish it. See the methodology or the corrections ledger.