The department is investigating possible consumer harms at the major AI companies.
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The US Federal Trade Commission has subpoenaed OpenAI and Anthropic for information about recent safety incidents with both businesses' AI models. Axios first reported that agency had sent civil subpoenas to the companies, and a spokesperson from the FTC confirmed the action to CBS News.
Axios' source said that the FTC is exploring possible consumer protection violations at Anthropic and OpenAI. The subpoenas are looking for documents regarding security incidents and safeguards, as well as some of the companies' marketing materials and content about their privacy policies. The individual also claimed the FTC plans to seek testimony from the top executives at both businesses. The department will allegedly send investigative demands to third-party AI companies at a later time.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson is also part of the White House's recently-assembled task force for artificial intelligence, although that group seems more aimed at furthering US industry leadership than at AI regulation.
There have been several calls among tech and AI executives and employees for government intervention, particularly around frontier model development, which has come under increased scrutiny following a string of safety failures. OpenAI has seen its AI agents escape testing safeguards multiple times in recent months, including instances where the models hacked government websites and the business Hugging Face. This month, Anthropic's models have been caught attempting to access various levels of government sites and one sent a false homicide tip to Philadelphia law enforcement.
Today's move from the FTC echoes several lawsuits that are also underway regarding AI safety concerns. Most recently, eight state Attorneys General filed a suit against OpenAI yesterday on claims that the company violated consumer protection laws.