FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson to lay out AI regulation vision at Reuters NEXT Newsmaker

FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson is set to discuss the agency’s approach to artificial intelligence regulation at the Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event, bringing his enforcement-first philosophy to one of the year’s prominent media gatherings.

Ferguson, who took the helm of the Federal Trade Commission on January 20, 2025, after being designated by President Trump, has carved out a distinct lane in the AI regulation debate: use the tools you already have, and be deeply skeptical of anyone asking you to build new ones.

Enforcement over expansion

Ferguson’s approach to AI oversight can be summed up as “regulate less, enforce more.” Rather than crafting an expansive new regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, he has consistently argued that the FTC’s existing authorities are sufficient to tackle deceptive practices and competitive harms in the AI space.

The FTC under Ferguson has still taken action where it sees clear consumer harm. The agency has initiated enforcement efforts concerning the impact of AI chatbots on children and has gone after misleading advertising claims about what AI technology can actually do.

The Anthropic dust-up

Ferguson’s most pointed public remarks on AI regulation came during a speech at Georgetown University on September 15, 2026, where he took direct aim at proposals from within the AI industry itself.

His target: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who had publicly called for antitrust clearance to coordinate slowdowns in AI model development the week prior. Amodei’s argument was essentially that the biggest AI labs should be allowed to collectively pump the brakes on development speed for safety reasons.

Ferguson was not persuaded. He called proposals that combine new regulations with antitrust exemptions “deeply suspicious,” arguing that coordinated slowdowns function as barriers to entry that would entrench established companies at the expense of newcomers.