The Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into the following matters: open AI, human and other artificial intelligence companies over the potential dangers posed by their products, an agency spokesperson confirmed to CNBC.
The investigation puts OpenAI and Anthropic under increased scrutiny over their safety practices, especially after industry researchers warned how the companies’ AI models could cause catastrophic harm. OpenAI surprised the industry in July by revealing that its agent had hacked the open source platform Hugging Face by infiltrating it through a test environment.
An FTC spokesperson declined to name the other companies being investigated. The New York Post first reported on the investigation.
Representatives for OpenAI and Anthropic did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Earlier this month, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei rocked the tech industry by urging AI companies to slow down the pace at which they improve their cutting-edge models and calling for more government oversight. He announced a three-phase proposal aimed at slowing the pace of development without “sacrificing commercial advantage or America’s lead in AI.”
Several of Amodei’s competitors expressed support for his proposal, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang argued that individual companies should be responsible for ensuring the safety of their products.
President Donald Trump uses the alphabet, meta, space xNvidia, PalantirAnthropic, OpenAI, and other companies are scheduled to discuss the issue on Tuesday. The group signed a short, voluntary, non-binding agreement stating that “all companies have a responsibility to develop their technology safely and in a way that builds trust with customers and the public.”
“We all need to work together to make sure we win and win safely,” Amodei said outside the White House on Tuesday. “If we do this right and work with the president and everyone here, we can win safely.”
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