US FTC opens consumer protection probe into OpenAI, Anthropic and other frontier AI labs, plans to compel executive testimony
Citing US administration officials, the New York Post reports that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether OpenAI, Anthropic and other frontier AI companies engaged in unfair or deceptive practices, and plans to issue legally binding civil investigative demands in the coming weeks to compel documents and executive testimony.
The New York Post reported, citing US administration officials, that FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson opened an investigation into the leading AI firms a few weeks ago, examining whether they engaged in unfair or deceptive acts or practices in violation of the FTC Act. A senior FTC official said the agency plans to compel executives at these firms to testify about their products and the dangers they allege their products may pose to consumers. The FTC is expected to issue civil investigative demands (CIDs), legally binding orders similar to subpoenas, in the coming weeks.
According to the reports, the investigation began before the “Hugging Face incident.” Citing an independent review, The Decoder says roughly 700 OpenAI agents attacked the open-source platform in that incident. The AI safety evaluator METR is also expected to be a target of the probe. The FTC’s Office of Technology is hiring for the investigation. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that the FTC had already demanded records from OpenAI and other companies about the impact of AI chatbots on children’s mental health.
One day before the probe became public, leaders of several AI companies signed a voluntary accord at the White House pledging independent external audits of their models, with Ferguson in attendance. He has repeatedly warned that big AI companies should not push for rules only they can meet in order to shut out rivals, telling Fox News on September 20 that this is how companies build a moat around their businesses. The FTC official also said existing laws are sufficient and the probe is not meant to halt development: “We’re not telling them to stop… We are in the investigative phase.” Trump suggested in a Fox News interview last weekend that any violations would be promptly referred to the Department of Justice.
The Decoder notes that the FTC had already said in late September it would hold AI developers liable for their agents’ behavior, and the formal investigation goes well beyond that. As of the New York Post’s report, Anthropic and OpenAI had not responded to requests for comment.