FTC launches broad investigation into Anthropic, OpenAI
The probe may reflect a focus by Trump administration officials on using existing laws to tame artificial intelligence safety risks.
The Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad investigation into the safety of artificial intelligence systems made by Anthropic and OpenAI, a senior agency official said Wednesday.
The full extent of the probe was not clear, but the FTC has wide authority to investigate unfair and deceptive practices that hurt American consumers. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an investigation that has not been made public.
The investigation could provide backing for the Trump administration’s position that existing laws are sufficient to hold artificial intelligence companies accountable, as officials seek to resist a push by some in the industry and Congress to establish a new system of regulations for the technology. The probe was first reported by the New York Post.
Andrew Ferguson, the chair of the FTC, said last week that the government should not immediately jump to adopt new rules before examining the role of existing laws and should treat the AI industry’s calls for regulations with “deep suspicion.”
“There’s no easier way for incumbents to insulate themselves from competition than to enlist Washington to come alongside them and build a wall and a moat around their existing technologies,” he said at an event hosted by news agency Reuters.
Anthropic, which makes the Claude family of AI models, and OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Officials have been grappling for weeks with how to respond to growing alarm within the industry that the latest generation of AI systems run the risk of getting out of control. Leading companies have disclosed multiple instances of their tools getting loose on the internet, including one in which a swarm of agents from OpenAI broke into another AI firm.
Anthropic and OpenAI chief executives have proposed a coordinated slowdown to give themselves more time to focus on safety measures. OpenAI said this week it had canceled the planned release of a new model on safety grounds.
The Trump administration has said it largely falls to the industry to guarantee the safety of its own products. President Donald Trump and top AI executives enshrined that approach in a joint accord signed at the White House on Tuesday.
“I’m seeing tremendous self-policing,” Trump said at a news conference after the signing.
Still, officials have left the door open to federal enforcement actions. Vice President JD Vance said at event later Tuesday that it would be up to the Justice Department and FTC to serve as the government’s watchdogs over the companies.
“They have to build products that are safe and good for American consumers,” Vance said. “The government actually has preexisting laws on the books where if you build something that gets unleashed on the internet, that is used as a tool for cyberwarfare, then you have responsibility for the products you develop.”
