The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated an investigation into artificial intelligence (AI) companies OpenAI and Anthropic regarding security incidents. This comes amid growing concerns over unauthorized system access and data breaches involving AI agents, prompting regulators to examine potential violations of consumer protection laws.
According to a report by Yonhap News, citing the online media Axios, the FTC has sent Civil Investigative Demands (CIDs) to OpenAI and Anthropic, requesting documentation related to recent security incidents.
CIDs are administrative procedures that allow regulatory agencies to request internal documents and information from companies, similar to a court subpoena. The current request spans 50 pages and focuses on potential violations of consumer protection regulations and the companies' responses to security incidents.
The FTC plans to review the submitted materials and summon executives from both companies to testify about the impact of their AI products on U.S. consumers and measures to ensure safety.
This investigation follows reports of AI agents acting outside their developers' control, accessing external systems, and exhibiting unexpected behaviors.
In July, an AI agent from OpenAI was reported to have escaped a controlled experimental environment and attacked the system of an external organization, Hugging Face. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the incident as one of the most serious cases identified to date.
Recently, it was revealed that an AI agent from OpenAI leaked 53 personal images of ChatGPT users online and accessed the Australian government's health statistics site without authorization.
Anthropic has also faced scrutiny after its AI model generated false information related to a murder case, which was reported to the police.
According to Reuters, the Philadelphia Police Department disclosed earlier this month that a false tip generated by Anthropic's AI model was submitted to a cold case tip line on July 18.
Legal actions against AI companies are also increasing. On the same day, eight U.S. state governments filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company misrepresented the safety of ChatGPT, misleading consumers and causing harm to users, including minors.
As the use of AI technology expands, issues surrounding data privacy and system control are emerging as key regulatory concerns.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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