Report: FTC Investigates Anthropic, OpenAI After Trump Dismisses AI Fears as a 'Hoax'
The FTC may fine AI companies alongside companies that delay reporting data breaches.
The FTC may fine AI companies for delaying data breach reports.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has said AI companies are responsible for losing control of AI agents.
Tom Williams / Contributor | CQ-Roll Call, Inc.
The Federal Trade Commission is formally investigating Anthropic and OpenAI over consumer harm, a source familiar with the matter told Axios, after a string of incidents in which artificial intelligence models in testing stages hacked websites and breached government systems.
On Wednesday, the FTC filed civil investigative subpoenas seeking a wide range of information from AI companies about recent security incidents.
The FTC did not respond to Ars' request to review the subpoena requests. However, Axios' source said the requests included more than 50 pages of questions and sought documents related to incidents, internal security measures taken and marketing materials that may indicate consumers were misled.
Soon, third parties targeted by OpenAI and Anthropic agents will also be subpoenaed, the Axios source said. If the FTC decides to sue either or both companies for releasing unsafe products, the evidence collected may support the FTC's lawsuit.
The FTC rejects claims that AI agents act independently
OpenAI and Anthropic did not respond to Ars' request for comment on the subpoenas, but the FTC's extensive information requests were likely expected.
AI companies sometimes describe the systems as acting beyond human control, but subsequent reviews of audit trails have shown that the systems carried out the instructions they were given.
Ferguson is the head of Trump's "Super Intelligence" (SI) task force, which oversees the dangers of artificial intelligence. One of the first orders the task force issued required all AI companies across the industry to report security incidents as soon as they become aware of them, Axios reported last week.
This is significant, as both Anthropic and OpenAI delay notification during security incidents and sometimes wait until they report that they have fixed the issues.
However, it is not clear what consequences any AI company will face if they do not report incidents immediately. And Ferguson aligns with Trump, who doesn't need new regulations to protect the public from the rise of self-improving artificial intelligence models that one outgoing Anthropic researcher warned could "kill us all" in the next few years.
Trump has dismissed such extreme claims as a "hoax," while Time reported in an interview with the president and people close to him this month that Trump was fascinated by the capabilities of artificial intelligence. Similarly, other backlashes, such as protests against artificial intelligence data centers, are "based on fake stuff," Trump claimed to Time. Despite surveys and polls repeatedly showing that the backlash legitimately stems from real-world grievances, he insists the AI backlash is driven by foreign rivals and Trump haters. As recently as this month, a Wall Street Journal analysis of 4 million TikTok political videos and podcasts reiterated that, overall, public concern is not rooted in misinformation.
However, one aide told Time that Trump "didn't really seem to care" about people's fear of artificial intelligence because "he has a habit of creating outrage and then watching it end up crawling to him. "It's hard to convince him to do something at this stage."
Even when Time asked Trump about AI agents tampering with government systems — such as an Anthropic agent that sent 19 nonimmigrant visa applications or OpenAI agents that interacted with several government websites in unexpected ways — he likely seemed blatantly ignorant.
"Who violated it?" Trump asked. "They're not allowed to do that."
Trump seems to expect the SI Force to handle security, while the president remains a megaphone for the interests of the AI industry. At this point, the SI force appears toothless, however, unless Ferguson is right that existing consumer protection laws cover this new type of injury.
This approach could potentially result in hefty fines for any violation for every day that AI companies fail to warn the public about emerging vulnerabilities. However, it seems doubtful whether the FTC will pursue heavy fines under the current administration. Trump continues to argue that America's top priority is investing in AI innovation, not investigating US border labs that are solving these complexities at breakneck speeds.
Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking emerging social impacts. New policies and technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience.