FTC removes Lina Khan-era posts about AI risks and open source

In a surprising move, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has removed three significant blog posts from the era of Chair Lina Khan that addressed open-source artificial intelligence (AI) and potential consumer risks associated with AI technologies. As reported by Wired, these posts included critical discussions on consumer concerns and the implications of AI on public safety. One notable entry, titled "On Open-Weights Foundation Models," was shared on July 10, 2024, while another, "Consumers Are Voicing Concerns About AI," was published in October 2023. A third piece, authored by Khan's team and posted on January 3, 2025, examined the potential dangers AI poses to consumers, including issues such as fraud and discrimination. TechCrunch has reached out to the FTC for clarification regarding the reasons behind the removal of these posts, but Khan has not provided any comments on the matter. This action reflects a broader trend observed during the Trump administration, where executive orders prompted federal agencies to retract or alter substantial amounts of public content. Following Trump's inauguration, the FTC underwent leadership changes that shifted its focus away from Khan's rigorous antitrust approach toward a more deregulated environment favorable to major tech corporations. Recently, new FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson proposed changes aimed at eliminating or revising regulations viewed as anticompetitive. The removed blog posts, which highlighted consumer risks, appear misaligned with the current administration's AI Action Plan, which prioritizes rapid growth and competition, particularly with China, over safety measures. Despite the Trump administration's support for open-source initiatives, former FTC public affairs director Douglas Farrar expressed surprise at Ferguson's disconnection from White House signals regarding market regulation. This isn't the first instance of the current FTC's content removal; earlier in March, it was reported that around 300 posts related to AI and consumer protection had been taken down. While many posts from Khan's tenure remain on the FTC's Office of Technology Blog, Ferguson's administration has yet to contribute new content, despite the ongoing rapid evolution in the AI sector, which has seen numerous mergers potentially raising antitrust concerns. The FTC's content removal efforts echo a larger campaign by the Trump administration that led to the alteration of thousands of government webpages across various topics, including public health and environmental policy. Critics argue that the removal of these blog posts may violate the Federal Records Act, which mandates the preservation of documents that accurately reflect government activities, as well as the Open Government Data Act, which promotes the publication of government data as open by default. Under the Biden administration, the FTC has even applied warning labels to content from previous administrations that it finds objectionable, further complicating the agency's public communication strategy.