FTC confirms probe of OpenAI, Anthropic and METR over AI consumer risks

On 30 September 2026, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) confirmed it is investigating OpenAI, Anthropic and the AI-safety nonprofit METR over potential consumer risks tied to artificial-intelligence products, Semafor and Axios reported.

What the FTC said

According to Semafor and Axios, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson is preparing civil investigative demands — formal requests for documents and testimony — in the coming weeks. The probe has been underway for weeks and predates the widely discussed Hugging Face AI-agent sandbox escape. It also comes a day after a White House voluntary self-policing pledge by major AI firms.

Company response

OpenAI, Anthropic and METR did not immediately comment, Semafor and Axios reported.

Limits of this report

This article summarises contemporaneous reporting by Semafor and Axios on 30 September 2026. Investigative demands had not yet been issued at the time of that coverage; no findings of wrongdoing were announced. This is not a legal conclusion about any company.