Trust needs evidence

Reuters, citing a senior FTC official, reported that the Federal Trade Commission opened an industry-wide investigation into possible consumer risks from AI labs including Anthropic and OpenAI, with plans to issue formal information demands and compel testimony. There was no official FTC announcement.

The same day, a Senate Homeland Security subcommittee held a hearing titled “Rogue AI: Securing the Homeland Against AI Agent Attacks,” with witnesses from METR, Apollo Research, Georgetown Law, Dragos and the AI Futures Project.

An open statement signed by researchers and former officials, including Stuart Russell, Joy Buolamwini, Alondra Nelson and former NIST chief AI advisor Elham Tabassi, calls on governments, funders, developers and standards bodies to make independent AI evaluation possible.

Its six principles: fund the science while protecting evaluator independence; make systems traceable and failures reportable; measure what matters to affected people; give evaluators proportionate pre-deployment access; protect good-faith testing with legal safe harbors; and make results comparable across borders.

Governor Newsom signed 13 more AI-related bills, including SB 947, which bars employers from relying solely on automated decision systems for discipline or termination; AB 1331 and AB 1883 on workplace surveillance; AB 1979 and SB 503 on AI in health care; SB 1000 and AB 2713 on AI transparency; and AB 2392 on generative AI procurement standards at public colleges and universities.

CISA sent the final rule implementing the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on October 1. Covered critical infrastructure entities will have to report certain cyber incidents within 72 hours and ransomware payments within 24 hours.

OIRA review can take up to 90 days, so publication may not come until early 2027, with an effective date likely at least 60 days later.

President Trump announced a task force to coordinate federal AI efforts, led by Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton, expected to serve as AI czar, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, Under Secretary of Defense Emil Michael and OPM Director Scott Kupor. It will coordinate engagement with consumers, public interest groups, critical infrastructure providers and AI companies.

No legal instrument or specific actions were announced. Clayton told the Wall Street Journal the task force would examine current law and possible congressional action.