The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued subpoenas to Anthropic and OpenAI as part of its investigation into how leading artificial intelligence developers are addressing potential safety risks associated with technological advancements. The FTC confirmed in late September that it had opened the investigation into these companies, along with other AI developers, with the inquiry expected to include demands for information and compel testimony from executives.
On Thursday, the federal agency announced that it sent civil subpoenas to Anthropic and OpenAI. Each subpoena consists of over 50 pages and requests documents related to security incidents, safeguarding practices, marketing materials, and company privacy policies. The FTC plans to send investigative demands to third-party AI organizations at a later date.
An OpenAI spokesperson stated, "As we improve our models and they increasingly help people in their day-to-day lives, safety remains a top priority. We will engage constructively with the FTC." The Washington Examiner reached out to Anthropic for a comment regarding the subpoenas.
The investigation arises amid concerns that AI agents are capable of performing rational acts autonomously, without human direction, raising questions about the future of the technology. An incident over the summer involved hundreds of OpenAI agents autonomously accessing Hugging Face’s systems, which led to further investigations and heightened fears regarding AI safety risks.
In response to the growing concerns about AI, calls for regulatory measures have emerged in Congress. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson stated in September that AI developers could be held accountable under existing laws if they intentionally instruct their systems to conduct cybersecurity operations that result in harm. Ferguson emphasized the need for regulators to assess whether current laws are adequate before pursuing new AI-specific legislation, cautioning against creating barriers that could protect established companies from competition.