The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission is embracing artificial intelligence and automation to tackle its expanded oversight responsibilities, according to Chairman Mike Selig's congressional testimony. Despite a significant decline in the agency's workforce under the Trump administration, the CFTC is leveraging tools like AI to enhance its surveillance and investigative capabilities. With about a quarter of the staff having left since 2025, the agency is being tasked with regulating the rapidly growing cryptocurrency and prediction markets. Chairman Selig assured lawmakers that the agency is running efficiently and effectively, and that AI tools like Microsoft's Copilot are being utilized to aid in productivity.
The CFTC is also prioritizing the enforcement of market regulations, with numerous investigations ongoing in the prediction markets. However, concerns have been raised about the agency's limited resources and staffing, with some arguing that it is stretched too thin to effectively regulate the volatile markets. The CFTC is pursuing preliminary rules to establish guardrails for the US prediction markets and is also pushing policy initiatives in the crypto space.