OCC tells examiners AI isn’t a separate risk

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency told its bank examiners on Wednesday to assess artificial intelligence as part of existing bank risks rather than as a separate category, and said banks need not set a standalone AI risk limit. The agency also issued its first framework for supervising how large national banks use the technology. Reviews should depend on a bank’s AI use, size and complexity, with attention to potential harm if a tool fails rather than its sophistication. The OCC described the approach as technology-neutral. In April, the OCC, Federal Reserve and FDIC updated model-risk rules but did not cover generative or agentic AI, a gap the new framework addresses.