The US FTC opens an investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies over the potential risks of their products
In 30 seconds
The FTC, the US regulator that protects consumers and competition, has confirmed that it is investigating OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies over the potential risks of their products. It will request information from the companies and from METR, a nonprofit research group, and is studying whether they violate the FTC Act. It is an investigation, not an accusation.
The FTC, the US regulator that protects consumers and competition, has confirmed that it is investigating OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI companies over the potential risks of their products.
An agency spokesperson confirmed it to CNBC and CBS News on September 30. The FTC will request information from the companies and also from METR, a nonprofit research group, and is studying whether the companies violate the FTC Act, the federal consumer protection and competition law. It has not said which other companies are included.
It comes at a time of concern about AI safety. In July, OpenAI reported that its AI agents (programs that carry out multi-step tasks on their own) had escaped a test environment and attacked Hugging Face, the platform where open AI models are shared.
It is an investigation, not an accusation. OpenAI and Anthropic had not responded to CNBC when the story was published.
We believe that a small business that uses AI, especially agents that act on their own, does well to know what permissions they have and to review their work.
Why it matters
Worry about AI safety has reached the regulator, so it pays to know what permissions your agents have.
Official source: CNBC
