FTC subpoenas OpenAI and Anthropic over consumer safety harms

Subpoenas seek safety records

The Federal Trade Commission sent civil subpoenas to OpenAI and Anthropic on Wednesday, seeking documents about safety incidents that Axios reported have spiraled into an industry crisis. A person familiar with the matter told Axios the scope of the probe is focused on potential consumer protection violations.

The civil investigative demands are more than 50 pages long each. They ask for documents concerning security incidents and safeguarding practices, along with marketing materials and records detailing company privacy policies. Investigative demands will later be sent to third party AI organizations, the person familiar said.

Agency plans to question executives

The FTC has plans to compel top AI executives to testify about their products, according to the source. The agency has investigative authority to examine consumer harms that could be seen as unfair or deceptive, a category that can cover a wide range of misbehavior, from how companies charge for services to whether they are alleged to have misled users.

FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has echoed the view of other administration figures and executives that AI systems should not be released if they are not safe.

Pressure builds after safety disclosures

OpenAI faces a litany of lawsuits. A group of state attorneys general sued OpenAI on Wednesday under consumer protection laws for allegedly misleading users, including children, on the safety of its chatbot.

The Trump administration has taken on a more aggressive posture toward AI companies as safety incident disclosures continue. President Trump's newly minted Super Intelligence Force, which Ferguson co-chairs, responded last week to Anthropic's "fraudulent" use of government systems by announcing an industry wide mandate to immediately notify and remediate when incidents occur. The SI Force is set to meet on Thursday, sources familiar said.

Sources: Axios · Techmeme