FTC launches broad investigation into Anthropic, OpenAI and other “superintelligence” labs

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is preparing a broad investigation into Anthropic, OpenAI and other frontier artificial-intelligence labs, to uncover the possible risks the technology may bring to consumers, as the New York Post reports, citing U.S. administration officials. According to the report, the agency plans to send the companies formal requests (civil investigative demands), similar to subpoenas, to compel the handing over of information.

The initiative was taken by FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson a few weeks ago — before the so-called “Hugging Face” incident, when, as reported, more than 1,000 OpenAI AI agents hacked the open-source platform in July. The agency is now preparing requests that will compel the heads of the leading companies to testify about their products and about the risks that, according to their own statements, they may cause to American citizens.

The investigation will examine allegations of unfair or deceptive acts violating the FTC Act, and will also seek documents from AI or “superintelligence” firms, as President Donald Trump calls them. A senior FTC official told the New York Post: “We absolutely have to win this AI race… we are at the investigative stage,” clarifying that the investigation does not aim to stop development, but only to ensure enforcement of existing laws. “People talk about the need for new laws… we have plenty of laws in force,” he added, as quoted by the Post.

President Trump suggested at the weekend, in an interview for Fox News, that any violation would be referred immediately to the Department of Justice, making the companies responsible for possible hacks by rogue AI agents which, according to him, could threaten power grids or financial institutions. Meanwhile, on Tuesday (29 September), the top leaders of the AI industry — Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai and xAI’s Elon Musk — visited the White House and signed with Trump an agreement on the self-regulation of models; Ferguson was also present.

According to the New York Post’s reporting, the FTC is expected to issue the requests in the coming weeks, while the Office of Technology is recruiting new staff for the investigation. Also expected to be in the crosshairs is METR, the Berkeley-based AI oversight organisation linked to the effective altruism movement. The investigation comes after the FTC’s earlier requests for documents from OpenAI and other companies on the impact of chatbots on children’s mental health — reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. Representatives of Anthropic and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while Reuters also covered the New York Post’s reporting, stressing that it has not independently verified it.