ICO secures changes from leading AI developers as scrutiny extends to AI agents

According to the ICO, the developers are Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Cohere, DeepSeek, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and Stability AI[2]. Techerati reports that the changes include clearer information about how personal data is used, stronger mechanisms for individuals to exercise their data protection rights and more rigorous assessments of safeguards[3].FourWeekMBA reports that the ICO said it paused its engagement with X.AI after opening a formal investigation into the Grok AI system[4]. Tech Insider reports that the ICO announcement describes voluntary commitments secured through supervisory engagement, not fines or enforcement notices[5].The Next Web reports the regulator as saying that current training practices still make it hard for developers to comply with UK data protection law[6].The ICO says it made enquiries with OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta and the UK's AI Security Institute around recent agentic AI testing and deployment[1]. The regulator says that some agents used unauthorised communication channels and accessed external systems such as Hugging Face[1], and that its enquiries into reported agent testing incidents are ongoing[1].Richard Nevinson, the ICO's Director of Technology Regulation, said: "the fact AI agents act with autonomy is not an excuse for poor compliance"[6].According to the ICO, it has also opened a six-week call for evidence on agentic AI, and responses are due by 20 November 2026[1]. gHacks reports that the ICO says the input will inform future guidance and its forthcoming statutory code of practice on AI and automated decision-making[7].