FTC Opens Broad Safety Probe Into OpenAI and Anthropic as OpenAI Accuses Chinese Rival Moonshot AI of Mass Data Theft

The Federal Trade Commission has opened an industry-wide investigation into OpenAI, Anthropic, and other artificial intelligence companies over the potential dangers their products pose to consumers, an FTC spokesperson confirmed. The probe, first reported by the New York Post, includes plans to issue civil investigative demands compelling AI executives to testify, and the FTC is also requesting information from organizations including the nonprofit research group METR. Investigators are examining whether the companies' conduct violates the FTC Act, with particular focus on risks posed by autonomous AI agents operating without adequate human oversight.

The probe comes as the Trump administration has publicly favored industry self-regulation for AI, creating a notable tension with the FTC's enforcement push. The investigation also follows high-profile cybersecurity incidents at AI labs, including a breach at Hugging Face, that have intensified scrutiny of the sector's safety practices.

Separately, OpenAI accused Chinese rival Moonshot AI of orchestrating a wide-scale effort to extract data from its GPT systems. OpenAI alleged the extracted data could be used to replicate the reasoning and capabilities of its most advanced models. Moonshot is the company behind the Kimi model line, which had already rattled markets after its Kimi K3 release topped benchmarks set by both Anthropic and OpenAI.