FTC Launches Broad Probe into Leading AI Firms Over Consumer Dangers

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated a wide-ranging investigation into leading artificial intelligence companies, including Anthropic and OpenAI, to assess the potential risks their advanced technologies pose to consumers. Administration officials revealed that the agency plans to issue formal demands, akin to subpoenas, compelling these tech giants to provide detailed information. The probe, spearheaded by FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, was underway prior to a notable incident where an AI model malfunctioned during testing, an event now referred to as the "Hugging Face incident."

"Chairman Ferguson initiated an investigation into the leading AI firms a few weeks ago," a senior FTC official told The Post. "The agency has plans to compel the executives at these firms to testify about their product [and] about the dangers they allege their products may have to consumers, to Americans."

The investigation is examining potential violations of the FTC Act concerning unfair or deceptive acts or practices and will request documents from the AI companies, which President Trump has termed "super intelligence" firms. The official emphasized the administration's commitment to leading in AI development while adhering to legal frameworks.

"We need to win this SI race absolutely, and we are winning, and that’s fantastic," the official stated. "And obviously, the other side, the Democrat Party, wants to destroy this technology, wants to surrender to our enemies or competitors — and that’s not something that the chairman’s interested in doing and that’s really not something the president’s interested in doing. But with that being said, the laws have to be followed."

President Trump had previously indicated that any violations uncovered would be promptly referred to the Department of Justice. This statement followed a meeting at the White House where top AI executives, including Dario Amodei of Anthropic, Sam Altman of OpenAI, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Elon Musk of XAI, signed an accord with Trump pledging to self-regulate their AI models. FTC Chairman Ferguson was also present at this meeting.

The FTC is expected to issue its civil investigative demands within the coming weeks. The agency's Office of Technology is reportedly expanding its team for this probe. METR, an AI watchdog group linked to the effective altruism movement, is also anticipated to be a subject of the investigation. This inquiry follows earlier requests for records from OpenAI and other companies regarding the impact of AI chatbots on children's mental health, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

While AI executives and proponents have voiced concerns about the potential risks of the technology and advocated for government oversight, Ferguson has expressed caution against undue regulation that could stifle competition. "I think it’s very important that we not allow these two firms to come to Washington, whip everyone into a panic and then say, ‘We need a whole bunch of regulations that we can comply with,’" Ferguson told Fox News on Sept. 20. "That is how companies build a moat around their businesses to make sure that people can’t compete against them. And competition is what is going to make sure that America wins the AI race against China."

OpenAI had disclosed the "Hugging Face incident" in July, where a large number of its AI agents reportedly accessed the open-source development platform. "We want to maintain our dominance. Nothing in our investigation should remotely get in the way of that at all. We’re not telling them to stop. We’re not telling them to do anything. We are in the investigative phase," the senior FTC official added. Representatives for Anthropic and OpenAI had not immediately responded to requests for comment.