Sept 30 (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission is conducting an industry-wide probe into Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI labs to uncover the potential dangers their technology poses to consumers, a senior FTC official told Reuters on Wednesday.
The probe is the first official US enforcement action that delves into rogue AI agents, following a surge in incidents first reported in July that have stoked fears among the public that uncontrolled AI could one day harm humans.
The FTC plans to issue formal demands for information and compel testimony from executives at top AI developers, including Anthropic, OpenAI and the research group METR, the official said.
Anthropic and OpenAI have used METR to conduct independent investigations into security incidents involving their agentic AI technology.
Anthropic, OpenAI and METR did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. The New York Post first reported the news.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson had concerns about the companies before AI agents developed by OpenAI hacked the open-source platform Hugging Face, the official said.
But the incident in which OpenAI agents had probed the AI coding hub for vulnerabilities before carrying out a large-scale attack increased urgency around the issue, the official said.
Ferguson suggested last week in an interview with Reuters that developers who instruct agents in cybersecurity tests that result in hacks should be liable for any harm they cause.
The US should look to existing laws before seeking to pass new ones regulating AI, Ferguson said at the Reuters Momentum AI event in Austin.
The FTC has broad authority to sue companies over unfair or deceptive practices, and has used that authority in the past to take action against companies for failing to take reasonable measures to secure consumers' data.
US President Donald Trump met with top AI executives on Tuesday, where the companies agreed to establish voluntary standards.
Trump has repeatedly called fears about AI a hoax as he seeks to prioritize US dominance in the technology over regulation. At the same time, he has also said the government can use existing laws against AI companies for any harm they may cause.
Anthropic said agentic AI technology raises significant and unpredictable legal risks in the prospectus for its stock market debut, Reuters exclusively reported on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York and Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Chizu Nomiyama and David Gaffen)