REGULATION · US
Ninth Circuit rules users, not developers, liable for AI agent actions under Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that when an AI agent executes commands on behalf of a user (e.g., scraping a website), the user who directed the agent bears legal responsibility under the CFAA, not the agent developer. Clarifies principal–agent doctrine for autonomous systems.
WHY IT MATTERS
Establishes liability framework for agentic AI in BFSI: banks deploying AI agents for compliance monitoring or market surveillance must own agent actions legally; shifts risk from vendors to deployers.
Source: PYMNTS · 2026-09-14