Banking regulators have begun asking banks about their use of artificial intelligence during routine bank examinations, Reuters reported Friday (June 12), citing unnamed sources.
Supervisors from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve are asking detailed questions about banks’ controls, protections for client data, governance frameworks, third-party risk, vendor oversight, subcontractor exposure and contingency plans in case of failures related to AI, according to the report.
Key areas of concern include whether AI systems can access or infer data beyond their authorized limits, whether banks can shut down the systems if necessary, and whether banks’ vendors and the vendors’ subcontractors meet the same governance and security standards as the banks, per the report.
Reached by PYMNTS, the Federal Reserve declined to comment on the report.
The OCC did not immediately reply to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
According to the Reuters report, the supervisors’ questions are meant only to deepen the regulators’ understanding of how banks are using AI.
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The report also highlighted public statements from federal agencies that suggested regulators are looking at banks’ use of AI.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in May 2025 that regulators told it that they were conducting AI-focused examinations.
“Federal financial regulators primarily oversee AI using existing laws, regulations, guidance and risk-based examinations,” the GAO said in a report on the technology. “However, some regulators have issued AI-specific guidance, such as on AI use in lending, or conducted AI-focused examinations. Regulators told GAO they continue to assess AI risks and may refine guidance and update regulations to address emerging vulnerabilities.”
The OCC said in April that it, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) “plan to issue in the near future a request for information that addresses model risk management generally and considers, in particular, banks’ use of AI, including generative AI and agentic AI and AI-based models.”
PYMNTS reported June 2 that Nvidia found that nearly 90% of financial institutions are deploying or assessing AI and that 65% already use the technology.
KPMG found that 70% of banking CEOs plan to allocate 10% to 20% of their budgets to AI in the coming year.
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