According to University of the Cumberlands associate professor Aashis Luitel, on July 21, 2026, U.S. Senator Mark Warner introduced the AI AGENT Act (S. 5051) to address liability disputes when autonomous AI agents execute transactions on users' behalf. The bill defines a "custodial user agent" as one authorized to act transparently, with documented and revocable limits, and requires such agents to maintain real-time records of actions taken for users.
The legislation directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop technical standards for verifying that users delegated authority to agents and for maintaining auditable records. Google's Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) demonstrates how evidence of authorized actions could travel across multiple systems involved in a transaction, though the protocol does not specify liability allocation or record retention timelines.
