FTC opens probe into safety of AI, including Anthropic and OpenAI
A logo is displayed outside of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at Constitution Center on June 1, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — The Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad probe into the safety of AI systems, including Anthropic and OpenAI, a senior FTC official confirmed to ABC News on Wednesday.
The New York Post was first to report on the investigation.
The probe is looking into allegations of unfair or deceptive acts by AI companies and potential harms to consumers. The agency could issue formal demands for AI companies to turn over information, a senior FTC official confirmed.
The FTC has the broad legal authority to investigate companies and enforce consumer protection laws. Its investigations can result in civil penalties.
ABC News has reached out to Anthropic and OpenAI for comment on the FTC investigation.
The FTC probe comes as AI leaders issue warnings about the threat of AI and calling for steps to slow it down before it outsmarts humans. Lawmakers’ calls for regulations for the AI industry have also grown.
President Donald Trump — who earlier this month called warnings about the dangers of artificial intelligence a “HOAX” — hosted key tech leaders at the White House on Tuesday, saying they signed a “constitution” to police themselves.
“This is a statement of principles that you’ll see, a statement of standards, commitments that are voluntary on behalf of the industry,” said Speaker Mike Johnson. “It sets forth expectations.”
Asked whether the agreement is binding, Trump said it’s “morally” binding.
ABC News’ Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., departs from the Senate chamber during a vote in the U.S. Capitol Building on July 13, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Senators faced questions from reporters after two weeks of recess and being in their home states. (Finn Gomez/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Ga, is calling for Democrats to investigate officials who he says have “manipulated their maps to silence the voices of Black voters,” as soon as they flip the House or Senate in the midterms.
In the plan, first reviewed by ABC News, Warnock said, “Here is what Democrats must do as soon as we regain power: investigate craven politicians, ban partisan gerrymandering, stop billionaires from buying our elections, expand our democracy and guarantee the right to vote for all Americans.”
Warnock has not ruled out a run for the White House in 2028. That possibility comes as roughly a third of the Congressional Black Caucus risks losing its seats before 2028, with GOP-led Southern legislatures redrawing maps after the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
In Louisiana, where Black residents make up roughly one-third of the population, a federal court had found that a post-2020 congressional map with only one majority-Black district likely diluted Black voting power. The legislature responded by drawing a second majority-Black district as courts had required in similar circumstances.
Justice Samuel Alito, who authored the Supreme Court opinion, which said that states only violate the Voting Rights Act when “evidence supports a strong inference that the State intentionally drew its districts to afford minority voters less opportunity because of their race.”
Republicans have argued that they are redrawing congressional maps to comply with the Supreme Court or to remedy unfairly-drawn districts, and that the districts that could be changed may still elect Black representatives to Congress.
Calling for officials who he says have engaged in gerrymandering to decimate minority voices is a position Warnock hasn’t called for until now, and he said in a phone interview with ABC News that the Callais decision was an “inflection point” for him to do so.
“A Democratic majority in either chamber must immediately investigate these officials, including through Congressional hearings, document requests, depositions, testimony, and, if necessary, subpoenas,” Warnock’s plan states. “We must analyze their statements, actions, and contributions to determine if there is any evidence that they broke any laws in their race to gerrymander and silence Black voices.”
Asked whether Democrats who’ve engaged in partisan gerrymandering — in California, for example — should face investigation, Warnock said that the state’s redistricting came in direct response to President Donald Trump pushing Texas to gerrymander five seats.
“There’s a significant difference between that and an open process in which Californians got to vote,” Warnock said. “This was not done in a smoky, dark room. They had a referendum. Again, if I had my druthers, there would be no gerrymandering.”
“There are only 22 districts out of 435 in this country in which a Democrat or a Republican could win the seat. I’m a Democrat. I think that’s a sad state of affairs,” Warnock added.
Warnock said that he’s been pushing his party to prioritize voting rights since he was first elected. In 2021, during negotiations over the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Warnock urged then-President Joe Biden in a phone call that legislative action on voting rights should be prioritized alongside the package.
Warnock said he tried to convince former Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema to amend the filibuster so the party could pass voting rights legislation four years ago, arguing voting rights mattered more than a procedural rule.
“I said to my caucus then, as the newcomer, that I was afraid that if we don’t do something … we would cross a Rubicon in this country that we wouldn’t be able to get back,” Warnock said. “I said that then, and sadly, it didn’t get done.”
Looking ahead, Warnock said if Democrats flip even just one chamber, the party should break up pieces of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and “force everybody to vote on it.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel testifies during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington, DC. The committee held the oversight hearing to examine the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — FBI Director Kash Patel is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning for an oversight hearing, the first time Patel is testifying since he clashed with lawmakers over reports of job performance issues more than four months ago.
The hearing comes after the committee’s top Democrat called on Patel to be replaced following a report published in The Atlantic in May that alleged Patel had “bouts of excessive drinking” and job performance issues.
Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that Patel lacks “the experience, judgment, and temperament to lead the FBI” and should be “replaced immediately.” Durbin reiterated those comments in his opening statements on Tuesday morning.
The report in The Atlantic was a focus of several lawmakers’ questions when Patel last testified on Capitol Hill in May with several heated exchanges over Patel’s drinking habits and job performance.
Patel said earlier this year that he’s “never been intoxicated on the job,” following the report. Patel sued The Atlantic over the article, demanding $250 million in damages.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Patel is expected to tout decreased crime nationwide, according to a source familiar with his testimony. President Donald Trump has frequently promoted a decrease in crime, saying on Friday that crime is “under control.”
The director will tout the increase in violent crime arrests, which are up 90%, arresting violent gang members are up 31% and he is expected to say it is the “most prolific run of crime reduction in history,” according to a source.
The FBI saysviolent crime is down 9.3% from 2024 to 2025.
Patel is also expected to discuss the FBI’s efforts to thwart major terrorist incidents and highlight information sharing among law enforcement partners, according to a source familiar with his testimony.
He is expected to talk about how he has made the FBI more nimble as director, accelerating the reduction of bureaucracy of the agency.
Patel’s time at the helm of the FBI has been marked by several controversies, which lawmakers may question him about. Earlier this year, Patel joined in on Team USA hockey’s locker room celebrations in Italy shortly after the team won the gold medal, which drew scrutiny about his use of FBI resources to attend. He was also grilled during a House hearing late last year about his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Tuesday adopted a House-passed Iran war powers resolution by a 50-48 vote in a symbolic, yet rare, rebuke of President Donald Trump.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
