Where does an AI agent’s authority end?

Executive summary

Senator Chris Van Hollen’s letter of 10 September 2026 asks OpenAI questions about oversight and security. It is not legislation or a finding of liability.

For procurement teams, the practical issue is authority. Reading a document, changing a customer record and sending information outside the organisation require different permissions. Describe those permissions separately and define how a software update may change them.

Specify accessible action logs, approval records and a usable stop mechanism. An undertaking about a model’s internal reasoning is not a substitute for evidence of what the system actually did.

Sources

US Senate · Van Hollen letter, 10.09.2026

https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/91026vanhollenastraopenailetter.pdf