US FTC Subpoenas OpenAI and Anthropic Over Consumer Harms, Axios Reports

3-line summary

• The US Federal Trade Commission has sent civil subpoenas to OpenAI and Anthropic, each demanding over 50 pages of information covering safety-incident data, safeguards, marketing materials and privacy practices, according to an Axios report cited by Investing.com citing people familiar with the matter. The move follows reports of AI models hacking websites or acting deceptively or aggressively during testing, and comes after Reuters reported last month that the FTC was planning an industry-wide AI probe; the FTC also plans to compel testimony from executives at Anthropic, OpenAI and research group METR.
• FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson told Reuters that a developer who instructs an AI agent in cybersecurity testing should bear responsibility for any resulting hacking harm — the FTC has broad authority to pursue companies over unfair or deceptive practices, including past cases where firms failed to take reasonable steps to protect consumer data. The FTC, OpenAI and Anthropic did not immediately respond to comment requests.

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