Attorney General Blanche rejects 'regulation by prosecution' of AI companies

Blanche gave the interview before appearing at a White House briefing the same day, according to Bloomberg. He criticized the Biden-era Justice Department, saying it spent prosecutors' time and money regulating industries of its choosing, and said his department would investigate crimes involving AI under laws already on the books. Asked whether AI labs should receive an antitrust exemption to coordinate on safety, an idea raised in Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei's Sept. 12 essay, Blanche declined to prejudge the question and said other senior officials would be involved.

Khan, who chaired the Federal Trade Commission until January 2025, wrote on X on Sept. 13 that AI enjoys no exemption from existing law and that enforcers can charge companies and their chief executives over dangerous, unvetted or defective products, The Register and Gizmodo reported. She cited the Supreme Court's 1934 decision in FTC v. R.F. Keppel & Bro., arguing that bans on unfair methods of competition reach firms whose risky conduct pressures rivals to follow.

Bloomberg also reported that FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has voiced skepticism about large AI companies' regulatory requests.