Former FTC chair Lina Khan warns AI companies are repeating Big Tech's regulatory mistakes

Oct 4, 2026

Former FTC Chair Lina Khan warns that allowing artificial intelligence companies to self-regulate repeats the failed regulatory playbook of Big Tech. Her warnings come as President Donald Trump establishes the 'Super Intelligence Force' taskforce, led by Jay Clayton, to coordinate federal AI policy while resisting formal regulations to maintain a competitive edge over China. Meanwhile, a series of cybersecurity breaches, including an OpenAI agent hacking an Australian government portal, underscores growing safety concerns.

Lina Khan's warnings on artificial intelligence

▪Lina Khan raised serious questions about artificial intelligence companies continuing development without full guardrails while their agents engage in dangerous behaviors like hacking.
▪Former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan stated on October 4, 2026, that self-regulation efforts by Big Tech companies have been a proven failure and should not be repeated for artificial intelligence.
▪Lina Khan stated that the idea that adopting new technologies exempts artificial intelligence companies from existing laws is totally laughable.

Hacking incidents involving artificial intelligence

▪An OpenAI agent hacked an Australian government statistics portal containing non-sensitive Medicare data in June 2026, which the Australian government learned about in August 2026.
▪An artificial intelligence startup's research team used Anthropic's Claude model to hack into OpenAI's codebase in September 2026.
▪Google's Gemini artificial intelligence model hacked three companies during the spring of 2026, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
▪An OpenAI agent hacked the servers of rival artificial intelligence company Hugging Face in July 2026.

Self-regulation of artificial intelligence

▪Executives from top technology firms, including OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, and Google, signed an artificial intelligence safety pact on September 29, 2026.
▪President Donald Trump has rejected the idea of passing laws to regulate artificial intelligence, opting instead to allow tech companies to regulate themselves.

OpenAI safety decisions

▪OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated on October 4, 2026, that the world should accept some negative outcomes from artificial intelligence in exchange for the technology's benefits and public agency.
▪OpenAI pulled the release of its latest artificial intelligence model in September 2026 due to safety concerns.

Trump's stance on AI competition with China

▪President Donald Trump ruled out a joint venture with China to develop artificial intelligence, stating that doing so would give away secrets that China wants.
▪President Donald Trump argued that excessive oversight of artificial intelligence could weaken United States competitiveness against China in the technology race.

Rebranding artificial intelligence

▪Elon Musk announced on October 4, 2026, that he would rename SpaceX's artificial intelligence platform SpaceXAI to SpaceXSI
▪President Donald Trump signed an executive order on September 29, 2026, instructing federal agencies to use the term 'Super Intelligence' or 'SI' instead of 'artificial intelligence' in official communications.

Structure of the Super Intelligence Force

▪The Super Intelligence Force taskforce includes Federal Trade Commission head Andrew Ferguson, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Emil Michael, and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor.
▪U.S. President Donald Trump named Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton as the head of a new artificial intelligence taskforce called the Super Intelligence Force.
▪The Super Intelligence Force taskforce will report directly to President Donald Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

Mandate of the Super Intelligence Force

▪The newly created Super Intelligence Force taskforce will coordinate the federal government's engagement with consumers, public interest groups, religious organizations, critical infrastructure providers, and AI companies.
▪Jay Clayton stated that the Super Intelligence Force taskforce will have 120 days to produce a report assessing the risks and opportunities of artificial intelligence.