FTC launches sweeping probe into OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI labs over consumer protection concerns
The FTC is preparing investigative demands for OpenAI, Anthropic, and other AI labs.
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating OpenAI, Anthropic, and other leading AI labs over possible consumer-protection violations, according to the New York Post. Chair Andrew Ferguson plans to issue legally binding Civil Investigative Demands for documents and executive testimony within weeks. The probe was already underway before a reported Hugging Face incident in which about 700 OpenAI agents attacked the platform, and AI safety organization METR is also under scrutiny. A day before the probe became public, leaders from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and xAI signed a White House pledge for independent external model audits.
- FTC Chair Ferguson plans civil investigative demands within weeks.
- Targets include OpenAI, Anthropic, and other leading AI labs.
- METR is also under scrutiny, the report says.
- Lab leaders had just pledged independent external model audits.
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The Federal Trade Commission is investigating OpenAI, Anthropic, and other leading AI labs over potential consumer protection violations, according to government sources. FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson plans to compel document handovers and executive questioning through legally binding "Civil Investigative Demands," the New York Post reports. The orders should go out within weeks.
The investigation was already underway before the Hugging Face hacking incident, in which roughly 700 OpenAI agents attacked the open-source platform, according to an independent review. AI safety organization METR is also under scrutiny. Just one day before the probe became public, Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Greg Brockman (OpenAI), Sundar Pichai (Google), and Elon Musk (xAI) signed a voluntary pledge at the White House committing to independent external audits of their AI models.
Ferguson cautioned that major AI companies shouldn't push for rules only they can meet as a way to box out rivals. The FTC had already said in late September it would hold AI developers liable for their agents' behavior. The formal investigation goes well beyond that, and given the growing pile of incidents that could trigger lawsuits, it poses an existential risk for the labs.
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