OCC issues supervisory framework on bank use of AI

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a supervisory framework to guide bank examiners in assessing financial institutions’ use of artificial intelligence (AI), including autonomous AI agents. The agency refers to these advanced capabilities as “super intelligence.”

The issuance is an examiner resource, not a new rule or enforcement order. It creates no new regulatory requirements, and banks are not expected to use it as a checklist for assessing their AI programs.

The framework focuses on what AI is authorized to do and the potential consequences of failure. It emphasizes human oversight and clarifies that examiners should not treat AI as a separate risk category or require banks to establish a separate AI risk appetite.

For Texas bankers, this development reinforces the value of innovation within banking’s trusted framework of accountability and risk management. As banks consider AI agents, leadership should understand who authorizes their actions, what limits apply and how employees can intervene when something goes wrong.