The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is embracing artificial intelligence and automation to manage its increased regulatory responsibilities, according to Chairman Mike Selig's testimony to Congress, despite a significant decline in the agency's workforce under the Trump administration. With about a quarter of the CFTC's staff having left since 2025, the agency is leveraging tools like AI to enhance surveillance and investigations. Selig noted that the CFTC is 'running more efficiently and effectively' and has incorporated AI into various workflows, citing the use of Microsoft's Copilot AI tool.
The agency is tasked with regulating the rapidly growing cryptocurrency and prediction markets, with Chairman Selig acknowledging 'numerous investigations ongoing' in the prediction markets. The CFTC is also claiming a dominant legal jurisdiction over these markets, which have drawn scrutiny over potential insider trading.
Selig emphasized that proper enforcement of the markets is a top priority, although the agency's budget request for next year only asks for three additional enforcement staff. The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, currently being worked on by the Senate, would elevate the CFTC's role in overseeing non-securities crypto trading.
The agency is also pursuing a preliminary rule process to establish guardrails for US prediction markets, with Selig pushing policy initiatives in crypto. Committee members expressed concerns about the agency's workforce being stretched too thin, with Representative Angie Craig arguing that the CFTC needs more staff, funding, and clear statutory authority to effectively regulate the rapidly growing and volatile markets.