Cruz Suggests FTC Overstepping Authority in ChatGPT Probe
The FTC may be overstepping its statutory authority to regulate constitutionally protected speech generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, wrote Monday. Cruz is seeking details about a civil investigative demand (CID) the FTC sent…
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to OpenAI related to disinformation and bias created by AI tools. The agency isn’t authorized to “launch a preemptive regulatory” action against “code underlying AI systems in order to prevent ‘bias’ or preclude the use of undefined ‘discriminatory’ datasets,” said Cruz. The FTC can issue a CID only if it has “reason to believe” a party possesses evidence of an unfair or deceptive act or practice, Cruz wrote. He noted FTC staff informed the committee during a June 2 briefing that the agency is exploring whether data sets “used to train AI models are biased, discriminatory, or contain 'misinformation.’” The CID represents an “extralegal approach” that would “inevitably involve the policing of constitutionally protected speech,” he said. The agency confirmed receiving the letter.