Conflicts of Interest and Safeguards for AI Agents

Investigate and resolve conflicts of interest between AI Agent providers and users—such as priority of platform or developer instructions over user instructions—and develop improved safeguards to prevent or mitigate undesired AI Agent actions.

Background

Building on a discussion of loyalty in legal agency and the "chain of command" model specification that may prioritize platform or developer instructions over user instructions, the authors highlight potential conflicts of interest in agent behavior. They suggest that value‑alignment should incorporate conflict‑avoidance and transparency, yet acknowledge open questions.

They also emphasize the need for stronger safeguards to reduce undesired agent actions, noting that current technical and socio‑legal mechanisms are powerful but incomplete, and calling attention to gaps that warrant further work.