Gary Marcus says AI agents need recall as FTC probes OpenAI and Anthropic

Marcus noted that six AI firms – Google, Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, xAI and Nvidia – signed a voluntary White House pledge on Sept. 29 to maintain internal controls and work with outside auditors, but the accord carries no penalties and does not require public audit disclosure. He likened the situation to a car manufacturer using cardboard brakes, arguing that a recall could curb the industry’s rapid cloud‑capacity build‑out, which he says drives token consumption and revenue.

The FTC investigation proceeds while Marcus concedes that international rules are unlikely soon, and he urges a narrower recall of agents rather than broader regulation, warning that the outcome could shape how much AI infrastructure spending continues.