Business News Tech AI Banks warn AI shopping bots raise scam, fraud and data-privacy risks
Technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta are increasingly promoting AI chatbots as shopping tools, envisioning a future in which shoppers use AI agents to select products and make purchases on their behalf. Retailers, meanwhile, are racing to influence chatbots' recommendations.
Using AI agents for online shopping could increase the risk of scams, fraud and data-privacy breaches, banks including NatWest and Bank of America said on Tuesday, as they set out principles for developing the technology. Technology companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta are increasingly promoting AI chatbots as shopping tools, envisioning a future in which shoppers use AI agents to select products and make purchases on their behalf. Retailers, meanwhile, are racing to influence chatbots' recommendations. British retailer John Lewis said in September that searches originating from AI agents had risen to 2.5% from 0.3% a year earlier, with the trend accelerating.
The group of banks, which also includes ING, New Zealand's ASB Bank, US lender Capital One and Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a report that customers were enthusiastic about the potential of agentic commerce and keen to enable it. However, they warned that the technology was advancing faster than industry standards and consumer protections. "Consumers are unclear if AI will act in their interests," the report said. "They are concerned that AI agents may buy the wrong thing or spend too much - or even worse, lose their money to scams and fraud.
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