CFTC chair Mike Selig says autonomous AI agents could challenge financial rules built around human traders, and regulators need to adapt.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig says it is “no longer science fiction” to imagine one’s refrigerator autonomously purchasing groceries with money earned from staking Ether — or even launching its own memecoin, raising questions about how regulators should oversee autonomous AI agents.

The colorful comment came during Selig’s remarks at the CFTC’s inaugural Frontier Forum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, where he argued that regulators must adapt to a financial system where AI agents can hold assets and execute trades autonomously.

“We’re gathered here today to discuss a technology that’s rapidly transforming the financial markets. President Trump calls it ‘super intelligence,’ or SI, because ‘it’s not artificial.’ It’s as real as the printing press, the steam engine, and the internet,” he said.

The regulatory questions come as younger investors embrace AI tools for managing money. An eToro survey published in September found that 79% of US millennial investors and 77% of Gen Z investors already used or were open to using AI to select or adjust their investments, highlighting the potential reach of rules governing automated finance.

Selig says the CFTC’s regulatory framework was developed around “identifiable market participants” performing specific financial functions, but autonomous software is raising questions about how those rules apply.

“Consider an SI agent that identifies trading opportunities and executes transactions on behalf of a user,” said Selig.

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