A group of Democratic Congressmen from the US House of Representatives has appealed to the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, to strengthen regulation of artificial intelligence in trading. Lawmakers Bill Foster and Brad Sherman have expressed concern that AI agents making transactions on behalf of retail investors are effectively left outside the legal field.

In policymakers' view, the current situation threatens the integrity of financial markets. AI developers and brokers make critical investment decisions while avoiding strict oversight. "It is important that technology does not become a tool for hiding conflicts of interest or market manipulation," the authors of the letter stressed. The reason for the request was a boom in AI helpers in the cryptosphere, particularly the launch of the virtual assistant exchange Coinbase in early June. Congressmen noted that such platforms often shift risks away from being responsible for the accuracy of algorithmic predictions.

The Democrats have put tough questions to the SEC, which must be answered by July 31. Lawmakers are asking what safeguards already apply to AI agents, when bots must be registered, and whether the agency has sufficient authority to control the sector or will require congressional intervention. Calls for tighter control of AI are coming from the top: earlier in June, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei also called for stricter oversight of artificial intelligence.