Privacy & Information Security Law Blog

On September 19, 2023, the Director of the Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection, Samuel Levine, delivered remarks that provided insight into the FTC’s ongoing strategy for regulating artificial intelligence (“AI”) during the National Advertising Division’s annual conference. Levine emphasized that the FTC is taking a more proactive approach to protect consumers from the harmful uses of AI, while ensuring the market remains fair, open, and competitive. Levine expressed the belief that self-regulation is not sufficient to address the regulation of AI. Levine also asserted that the FTC would continue to use its enforcement authority to challenge unfair or deceptive practices related to emerging AI products and push to expand its existing toolkit through proposed rules, such as imposing fines against those who use voice-cloning to defraud consumers. In his speech, he stated in-person, “I would say, at this stage, that we're monitoring the market closely. I think the bigger thing we're seeing now is claims around the use of AI. When we see more actual use of AI in direct interaction with consumers, we'll be monitoring that closely to ensure that they're not being deceived and that does not lead to harm otherwise.”