The Federal Trade Commission has sent civil investigative demands to OpenAI and Anthropic, according to reporting first published by Axios on October 15 and confirmed by an FTC spokesperson. The demands, issued October 14, each run to more than 50 pages.

The requests seek records on security incidents, internal safeguards, marketing materials and privacy policies, following disclosed cases in which test agents interacted with government websites and other external systems in unexpected ways. A civil investigative demand gathers evidence ahead of possible litigation; it is not a finding that either company broke consumer-protection law.

OpenAI said safety remains a priority and that it will engage constructively with the Commission. The move is the third regulatory escalation in three days for the labs, after the EU's first AI Act information requests and the eight-state lawsuit over ChatGPT child safety.