[DigitalToday reporter Jae-won Choi] Major U.S. banks are stressing AI safeguards, including limiting autonomous actions by AI agents and requiring final human verification. As AI use spreads rapidly, controlling new risks such as unexpected behavior or cyberattacks is emerging as a key task for the financial sector.

American Banker reported on Sept. 14 (local time) that executives from Bank of America (BofA) and PNC disclosed their AI adoption strategies and risk management measures at the Barclays Global Financial Services Conference in New York.

Brian Moynihan (브라이언 모이니핸), BofA's chief executive, stressed that it does not leave AI agents to judge and act on their own. BofA requires employees to verify AI-generated results delivered to customers. Its security team is also continuously strengthening systems to prepare for cyberattacks.

Moynihan said the core of the recent AI safety debate is what could happen if agents are given the authority to act freely. He drew a line, saying BofA does not do that.

PNC is also wary of the issue. Mark Wiedman (마크 위드먼), PNC's president, said the top priority is ensuring agents do what they should and do not take other actions. He said it is controlling AI so it does not move overly aggressively in carrying out its goals.

The comments came as a safety debate has spread again across the AI industry. Jacob Coxon (제이컵 콕슨), an Anthropic researcher, criticised AI companies for irresponsibly competing to develop “self-improving superintelligence” as he recently left the company. Dario Amodei (다리오 아모데이), Anthropic's CEO, also cited cyberattacks, bioterror and the possibility of slipping out of human control, and argued there is a need to slow the pace of improvement in AI model capabilities.

U.S. banks have expanded AI adoption to cut costs and improve work efficiency. BofA has continued large-scale investment in its AI virtual assistant Erica, while PNC is building its own GPU computing infrastructure and small language models (SLMs). As competition to use AI intensifies, the financial sector's focus is expanding from how quickly it can adopt AI to how it can use it while keeping it under control.