The US Federal Trade Commission has demanded testimony from Anthropic executives in its expanding investigation into potential consumer harms from artificial intelligence, an FTC spokesperson told Axios on Monday 26 October. It is the latest escalation of a probe that already covers two of the industry’s biggest companies — but the details matter, because this week’s development is narrower, and newer, than some coverage suggests.
What is confirmed for 26 October is testimony: the FTC has confirmed testimony requests only for Anthropic. The spokesperson said individuals at other AI companies had also received demands to testify, without providing further details — no names, no companies, and no dates have been published.
Two steps, not one: 14 October documents, 26 October testimony
The document demands at the heart of this probe are older. On 14 October, the FTC sent civil investigative demands — formal evidence-gathering requests, not findings of wrongdoing — to both Anthropic and OpenAI, seeking documents about safety incidents, safeguards, marketing materials and privacy policies. Those demands run to more than 50 pages each, according to Reuters’ reporting of the Axios story.
That distinction is important. Reports that describe “50-page demands sent to both companies on 26 October” conflate the two steps. The 26 October step is the Anthropic testimony demand; the 50-plus-page document demands went to both companies almost two weeks earlier.
What the probe covers — and what it does not prove
The FTC is investigating potential consumer-protection violations involving AI companies, including how companies handle safety incidents and whether users were misled. A civil investigative demand is an evidence-gathering tool: it does not mean the FTC has found a violation, sued anyone, or imposed a fine.
Anthropic itself disclosed in its stock-market filing this month that it had received a civil investigative demand from the FTC seeking information related to consumer protection, privacy, data protection and product safety and security. That disclosure corroborates the document demand; it is not a statement about the 26 October testimony demands, on which Anthropic has not been reported as commenting.
OpenAI, responding to the October document-demand reporting, said it “will engage constructively with the FTC and continue working with regulators and policymakers on policies that raise the safety bar.”
Why the timing matters
The testimony demand landed on the same day Anthropic was pitching investors on one of the largest public offerings in history, having filed its S-1 to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT. Its filing already flagged that it would likely face disproportionate government scrutiny, and that the FTC investigation could lead to significant costs and changes to its model design. The company had also committed 5% of its shares to a new public benefit fund ahead of the offering.
An earlier report, on 15 October, said the FTC planned to compel executives at top AI developers — including Anthropic, OpenAI and the research group METR — to testify. That was a plan. It does not prove that OpenAI or METR executives received testimony demands on 26 October, and no such confirmation has been published. Any article claiming otherwise would be going beyond the evidence.
What to watch next
Watch for whether the FTC confirms testimony demands for other companies, whether any executive names or testimony dates emerge, and whether the probe produces formal action — or closes without it. Until then, the confirmed facts are these: document demands to Anthropic and OpenAI on 14 October, and a testimony demand to Anthropic executives confirmed on 26 October.
Frequently asked questions
Has the FTC sued Anthropic or OpenAI? No. Civil investigative demands are evidence-gathering steps, not lawsuits or findings of wrongdoing.
Did the FTC demand testimony from OpenAI executives on 26 October? Not as confirmed. Only Anthropic testimony requests were confirmed for 26 October; other recipients were unnamed.
What did the 14 October demands ask for? Documents about safety incidents, safeguards, marketing materials and privacy policies, running to more than 50 pages each.
Sources
Axios, via Mezha, “FTC seeks testimony from Anthropic executives in expanding AI safety probe,” 26 October 2026; Reuters via Channel NewsAsia, “US FTC subpoenas OpenAI and Anthropic over consumer harms, Axios reports,” 15 October 2026; Anthropic S-1 filing disclosure, October 2026, as reported by Reuters.
