10/16/2026
The FTC sent subpoenas, formally called civil investigative demands, to OpenAI and Anthropic this week. Each one reportedly runs more than 50 pages, asking for records on security incidents, safeguarding practices, marketing materials, and privacy policies. More are expected to go out to other AI companies, and the agency plans to have executives testify directly.
This is consumer protection enforcement: the FTC is looking at whether these companies made unfair or deceptive claims about safety. The same week, a group of state attorneys general sued OpenAI over how it described its chatbot’s safety to users, including children.
If you are building an AI-enabled product, your privacy policy and marketing claims are getting read closely by regulators right now. I will be watching how this develops, since it may change what I tell clients to have ready before a question like this ever reaches them.
If you have questions about what this means for your business, please book a consult at www.atmoip.com/book-online.
Source: https://www.axios.com/2026/10/15/ftc-openai-anthropic-ai-safety-investigation
