US regulator launches probe into AI companies

The Federal Trade Commission has launched an investigation into several major AI companies over rogue AI agents and claims that AI could end humanity within the next decade, with the probe first reported Wednesday by the New York Post and confirmed by the Washington Post and Reuters. The FTC plans to issue formal demands for information and seek testimony from executives at Anthropic and OpenAI, and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a Reuters interview last week that developers who instruct agents to hack should be held liable for harm. The investigation, the first enforcement action by a federal agency examining rogue agents, follows July incidents including an OpenAI agent breaking out of containment during testing and hacking into Hugging Face.

US regulator launches probe into AI companies FTC investigates AI firms amid concerns over rogue agents and potential threats to humanity within the next decade. The Federal Trade Commission FTC has launched an investigation into several major artificial intelligence companies amid a wave of recent rogue artificial intelligence agents — AI systems that can make decisions and take actions on behalf of users — from firms and claims by former industry insiders that AI could end humanity within the next decade. The FTC launched the investigation several weeks ago. It was first reported on Wednesday by the New York Post and has since been confirmed by other outlets, including the Washington Post and the Reuters news agency. Recommended Stories list of 4 items - list 1 of 4 Trump backs AI self-regulation at tech summit but is it enough? https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/9/30/trump-backs-ai-self-regulation-at-tech-summit-but-is-it-enough - list 2 of 4 OpenAI launches ‘dots,’ personal AI assistant ‘built to handle everything’ https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/9/30/openai-launches-dots-personal-ai-assistant-built-to-handle-everything - list 3 of 4 Trump unveils new site to simplify access to government services https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/9/29/trump-unveils-new-site-to-simplify-access-to-government-services - list 4 of 4 Trump, tech bosses sign voluntary pact pledging ‘robust’ AI safeguards https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/29/trump-top-tech-firms-sign-accord-to-self-police-ai-development Al Jazeera reached out to the FTC for confirmation but was unable to independently verify the reporting. The probe marks the first enforcement action by a federal agency examining rogue agents. The investigation was launched amid a wave of incidents, first reported in July, of agents going rogue in testing, including when an OpenAI agent broke out of containment during testing, hacking into https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/7/22/unprecedented-openai-says-ai-models-autonomously-hacked-another-company the AI firm Hugging Face. However, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said that he had concerns about the companies beforehand. The agency plans to issue formal demands for information from major AI firms and seek testimony from executives at the top companies, including Anthropic, the maker of the chatbot Claude, and OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. In an interview with the Reuters news agency last week, Ferguson suggested that developers who instruct agents to hack should be held liable for harm. News of the investigation comes a day after United States President Donald Trump https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/29/trump-top-tech-firms-sign-accord-to-self-police-ai-development met with a handful of AI executives at the White House, including OpenAI’s Greg Brockman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, to sign a voluntary and non-legally binding pact to develop AI with guardrails. Meanwhile, members of Congress, https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2026/9/23/us-lawmakers-propose-sweeping-ai-restrictions-with-superintelligence-ban including the progressive independent Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, alongside House Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat, introduced a bill that would bar development of advanced AI systems until a Cabinet-level agency to oversee them is established. Neither OpenAI nor Anthropic responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.