FTC Investigates OpenAI and Anthropic, Examining Consumer Risks in AI Products

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating whether AI products from companies including OpenAI and Anthropic pose risks to consumers. According to CBS News, an FTC spokesperson confirmed on September 30 local time that an inquiry was underway. The agency said it plans to request information from the companies and is examining whether the conduct of the firms under review violates the FTC Act.

What the FTC is looking at

The focus of this inquiry is the risks consumers may encounter when using AI products. Rather than investment relationships between companies or market competition, it looks at problems that arise between products and the people who use them. The FTC spokesperson said the agency plans to request information from the companies, and added that it is also examining whether their conduct has run afoul of the FTC Act.

Which products and which specific risks are at issue has not yet been disclosed. What has been confirmed so far is that an inquiry is underway, that the agency plans to request information, and that the scope includes determining whether the law has been broken. For anyone using AI at work or in daily life, it is worth watching.

How this differs from the 2024 inquiry

This is not the first time the FTC has demanded information from OpenAI and Anthropic. In 2024, it ordered the two companies, along with other AI firms, to submit information. At the time, the FTC’s subject of interest was the investments and partnerships between AI developers and major cloud providers, and what effect those relationships had on competition.

The subject the FTC spokesperson confirmed this time is consumer risk in AI products. The companies under review overlap, but the questions being asked have changed. Where the earlier inquiry dealt with the competitive impact of investments and partnerships, this one weighs product risks and whether corporate conduct breaks the law.

What to watch next

The next milestone is what information the FTC actually demands, and which products and business practices it puts under review. Once the companies issue official responses and the inquiry produces findings, it will be possible to gauge the impact on users.

Separately, in September 2026 OpenAI disclosed six cases in which its models behaved unexpectedly, along with its policy for future disclosures. The fact that a U.S. regulator is now examining consumer risk in AI products directly carries weight for anyone who uses AI.