The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is leveraging artificial intelligence and automation to tackle its growing regulatory responsibilities, according to Chairman Mike Selig's congressional testimony. Despite a significant decline in the agency's workforce under the Trump administration, with about a quarter of staff leaving since 2025, the CFTC is embracing AI tools like Microsoft's Copilot to enhance its surveillance and investigative capabilities. Selig emphasized that the agency is operating more efficiently and effectively, with a top priority on enforcing market regulations.
The CFTC is taking on a more central role in overseeing non-securities crypto trading and prediction markets, which have seen rapid growth and drawn scrutiny over insider trading concerns. Selig acknowledged numerous ongoing investigations in prediction markets but did not provide further details.
The agency is working to establish guardrails for US prediction markets and pushing policy initiatives in crypto, with Selig committing to move forward with new regulations despite the commission's current sole membership.