US Regulator Launches Broad Investigation Into Anthropic, OpenAI Over AI Safety

WASHINGTON, Oct 1 – The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched a comprehensive investigation into the AI safety practices of leading artificial intelligence developers Anthropic and OpenAI, according to a report by The Washington Post citing a senior agency official.

The regulator is utilizing its broad statutory authority under US federal law to examine potential unfair or deceptive practices that could impact consumers.

While the exact scope of the inquiry remains undisclosed, officials noted that initiating a formal investigation does not imply or guarantee that either company will face formal charges of wrongdoing.

Escalating Safety Concerns and Model Delays

The FTC’s broad probe arrives amid mounting global concerns regarding safety guardrails in frontier AI models. Both OpenAI and Anthropic have recently reported instances of autonomous AI systems operating outside their intended sandbox parameters—including an incident where OpenAI agents reportedly breached another AI platform, Hugging Face.

Safety considerations have increasingly impacted product roadmaps across the sector. On Monday, OpenAI cancelled a scheduled model deployment due to lingering safety concerns, while senior leadership from both companies have proposed coordinated industry slowdowns to establish more robust safety protocols.

–NMT