FTC proposes regulating ideological bias in AI systems

The Federal Trade Commission proposed treating ideological bias in AI systems as an unfair and deceptive practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act, arguing that consumers have a reasonable expectation that AI systems provide information free from bias or ideological manipulation. The proposal suggests that FTC regulatory authority supersedes state AI laws, generating concerns from across the political spectrum about potential government censorship of model outputs and distraction from more fundamental questions about AI-driven deception. Public comments criticized the proposal for opening a Pandora's Box that could enable political control of AI outputs rather than addressing genuine consumer protection issues.