The Trump administration has assigned Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson to lead coordination of artificial intelligence consumer protection and law enforcement, putting the agency at the center of its approach to policing AI companies.
The White House’s AI task force agreed at a Thursday meeting that Ferguson would head a law enforcement and consumer protection coordination committee that includes the FTC and Justice Department, Semafor reported. The assignment brings together agencies with different enforcement powers as the administration pursues both AI development and oversight of potential misconduct.
FTC public affairs director Joe Simonson confirmed Ferguson’s selection in a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation, describing consumer protection and U.S. technological leadership as parallel priorities. The White House directed the publication’s questions about the appointment to the commission.
The coordination role comes as the FTC seeks information about the safety and security practices of major AI developers. Axios reported that the commission sent civil investigative demands to OpenAI and Anthropic seeking internal records concerning security incidents, safeguards, advertising and user privacy policies.
Such demands are investigative tools, not findings that a company has violated the law. They allow the commission to obtain information as it examines whether business conduct falls within its enforcement authority. OpenAI said it would cooperate constructively with the investigation and described safety as a continuing priority.
The administration also signaled that enforcement could affect the release of future systems. During a Friday appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Jay Clayton was asked whether the FTC would pursue wrongdoing vigorously and whether an investigation uncovering improper practices could prevent new models from being released. He answered affirmatively, saying the administration intended to use existing regulatory and law enforcement powers.
Clayton distinguished between unfair practices within the FTC’s remit and criminal violations handled by the Justice Department. His remarks described the administration’s enforcement position; they did not announce an order blocking a particular model or establish that either company under investigation had committed wrongdoing.
The FTC’s underlying consumer protection mandate predates generative AI. Created in 1914, the commission enforces prohibitions on unfair or deceptive business practices and also has responsibilities for protecting competition. Those powers can apply to how companies describe a product’s capabilities, communicate risks and handle consumers’ information, even when the product uses a new technology.
Supporters of relying on existing authorities welcomed Ferguson’s appointment. The Innovation Council, a pro-AI group, told the Daily Caller News Foundation that federal agencies already possess tools to hold AI businesses accountable. That position favors applying established law rather than treating AI oversight as dependent on an entirely new regulatory framework.
A White House official also told the publication that the task force would consult frontier-model developers, consumer protection organizations, civil liberties advocates, industry representatives and federal and state law enforcement agencies as it carries out its work.
Sources: The Daily Caller, Breitbart News