#ftc

#ftc

On Thursday, the Federal Trade Commission ordered several tech companies to cough up information about how they test, make, distribute and monetize their AI chatbots. ChatGPT's maker, San Francisco-headquartered OpenAI, is one target of the FTC's order. The inquiry also includes Google's parent company, Snapchat's parent company, Instagram and its owner Meta, Elon Musk's xAI, and the popular chatbot-maker Character.AI.

Late last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the agency was acceding to decisions by U.S. regional circuit courts vacating the agency's Biden Administration-era rule banning noncompete clauses from U.S. employment contracts and preventing their enforcement. While some lawmakers have decried the decision to end this rule, the FTC also issued a request for information (RFI) as the Trump Administration seeks to develop a case-by-case enforcement approach for cracking down on noncompete abuses.

A White House official said in July ahead of appealing the case that the Supreme Court has previously upheld Trump's "authority to fire and remove executive officers who exercise his authority." Context: A federal judge ruled in July that it's illegal to fire Slaughter. The Trump administration had asked the court to delay the ruling during its appeal in the case. However, the appeals court ruled that presidents can only remove FTC commissioners for "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office."

"My understanding from recent reporting is that Gmail's spam filters routinely block messages from reaching consumers when those messages come from Republican senders but fail to block similar messages sent by Democrats," Ferguson wrote. He warned Alphabet that if Gmail's filters "keep Americans from receiving speech they expect, or donating as they see fit, the filters may harm American consumers and may violate the FTC Act's prohibition of unfair or deceptive trade practices," adding this could lead to "an FTC investigation and potential enforcement action."

"I am concerned that these actions by foreign powers to impose censorship and weaken end-to-end encryption will erode Americans' freedoms and subject them to myriad harms, such as surveillance by foreign governments and an increased risk of identity theft and fraud," Ferguson wrote in the letters, the statement added.

"Some people 60+ have reported emptying their bank accounts and even clearing out their 401ks," the FTC's Division of Consumer Response and Operations wrote. "While younger people report losing money to these imposters too, reports of losses in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars are much more likely to be filed by older adults, and those numbers have soared."

According to the Central District of California U.S. Attorney's Office, a California man was indicted on 13 counts of wire fraud for scamming dating app users out of $2 million.

"Reported losses to job scams increased more than threefold from 2020 to 2023. In the first half of 2024, they topped $220 million, according to the FTC."

The statutory language, 'shall issue,' mandates a separate preliminary analysis for public review and comment 'in any case' where the Commission issues a notice of proposed rulemaking and the $100 million threshold is surpassed.

The Federal Trade Commission, under Trump-appointed chair Andrew Ferguson, cleared a merger between Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group, creating the world's largest advertising company, controlling over half of the industry.

Eligible Fortnite players who felt deceived by unwanted purchases are given a chance to apply for refunds from Epic Games' $245 million FTC settlement until July 9.

The CMA's proposed designation of Google with 'strategic market status' underlines a push for enhanced competition and consumer benefit in the digital economy.

The FTC's new rules seem less about fairness and more about coercing advertisers to support Donald Trump's failing social media ventures, echoing his previous controversial deals.

"Under the current rulemaking framework, however, this intended safety valve functions more like a chokepoint. Individuals and organizations seeking an exemption to engage in lawful fair use must navigate a burdensome, time-consuming administrative maze."

The FTC settled allegations against GoDaddy for misleading consumers regarding data security protections, leading to vulnerabilities and data breaches affecting its customers.