FTC probes OpenAI, Anthropic, and METR

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently probing leading American AI companies and a prominent safety watchdog over potential risks associated with their technology. The investigation, first reported by the New York Post, was initiated before an undisclosed OpenAI model reportedly caused significant issues by infiltrating an open-source AI platform, Hugging Face, earlier this year.

In addition to these major tech firms, the METR, a California-based nonprofit organization that assesses frontier AI models for risks, has also become a target of the probe. METR had previously investigated the OpenAI-Hugging Face incident and published a detailed report on the matter. The FTC is expected to issue civil investigative demands, akin to subpoenas, to the implicated companies within the coming weeks.

However, OpenAI, Anthropic, and METR have not yet responded to inquiries for comment. This move by the FTC marks an escalation in US government oversight of prominent technology firms, even as executives from multiple companies recently signed a voluntary agreement to self-regulate their AI models. President Donald Trump has praised the industry for demonstrating "tremendous self-regulation," while FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has previously expressed skepticism towards government regulation spurred by AI safety concerns.

Ferguson stated that he does not believe OpenAI and Anthropic should be able to manipulate public sentiment around AI risks and subsequently demand extensive regulatory measures to maintain an advantage over competitors.