FTC chair suspicious of calls for AI antitrust exemptions
FILE PHOTO: Andrew N. Ferguson, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, speaks before U.S. Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at a MAGA Inc. event in Sterling Heights, Michigan, US., August 31, 2026. REUTERS/Jeff Kowalsky/File Photo
Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
WASHINGTON, Sept 15 : The chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday that “everyone should be deeply suspicious” about AI companies seeking antitrust exemptions while they also lobby for new regulations.
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said he was expressing his personal opinion, and did not directly name Anthropic, whose CEO last week called for antitrust permission to enable rivals to coordinate a slower pace to AI development amid safety concerns.
The comments are the first public indication of how the Trump administration views that pitch, and highlight how AI regulation is sometimes perceived as a tool large tech companies use to hamstring rivals.
Ferguson made the comments at an event at Georgetown University in Washington. He noted that President Donald Trump would set AI policy for the federal government.
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
“I will say generally, though, that if companies are simultaneously coming to Washington and asking for a host of regulations and an antitrust exemption, all of my alarm bells go off,” he said.
“They’re asking for barriers to entry that will insulate their incumbency from challenge. And I think if you combine that with the requested antitrust exemption, everyone should be deeply suspicious about this,” he added.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for an intentional slowdown of AI development, and for an exemption to usual prohibtions on competitors working together. AI agents could become capable of shutting down the internet in as soon as six months, causing billions of dollars in damage, he said.
Source: Reuters
Sign up for our newsletters
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST
Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
