Axios reported that the Federal Trade Commission sent civil subpoenas to OpenAI and Anthropic on 14 October, seeking documents about safety incidents. A person familiar with the matter said the inquiry concerned potential consumer protection violations.
Each civil investigative demand runs to more than 50 pages and seeks records on safety incidents, measures to protect users, marketing materials and privacy policies, Mezha reported. The FTC plans to send demands to other AI organisations and to subpoena executives from leading companies to testify about their products, according to a person familiar with the matter. The commission can investigate conduct that may harm consumers or amount to unfair or deceptive practices.
AI Affairs previously reported on the FTC’s investigation of Anthropic and OpenAI over consumer risks. In a separate case filed on 14 October, a group of state attorneys general sued OpenAI under consumer protection laws, alleging that it misled users, including children, about the safety of its chatbot, Mezha reported.
