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What changedFTC chair Andrew Ferguson has sharpened his position on AI-agent liability, saying autonomous agents should be treated as tools rather than independent actors with their own wills or desires.
Speaking at the Reuters Momentum AI conference, Ferguson said audit trails generally show agents carrying out instructions from their creators. His argument puts responsibility back on the developers and companies that deploy these systems, rather than allowing “the agent did it” to become a convenient escape hatch.
The position is a federal enforcement signal, not a new rule or FTC action. It arrives as consumer-facing agents gain permission to act across services, while the legal framework remains uneven.
Sources and evidence- Ferguson Says AI Agents Are Tools, Not Actors — and Developers Bear the Liability: Andrew Ferguson said AI agents are tools rather than independent legal actors, and that developers and deploying companies should bear responsibility for their conduct. The claim is attributed to the supplied Forkast account of his Reuters conference remarks.
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