FTC chair suspicious of calls for AI antitrust exemptions

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 the companies also lobby for new regulation.

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson made the comments at an event at Georgetown University in Washington. Ferguson noted that he was expressing his personal opinion, and that President Donald Trump would set AI policy for the federal government.

"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.