The FTC Is Disappearing Blog Posts About AI Published During Lina Khan’s Tenure

The FTC Is Disappearing Blog Posts About AI Published During Lina Khan’s Tenure

Summary

The US Federal Trade Commission has removed or redirected several blog posts about AI that were published during Lina Khan’s tenure as chair. Posts discussing “open-weights” models, consumer concerns about AI, and risks of consumer harm were either redirected to the FTC Office of Technology landing page or taken down entirely between August and September 2025. The deletions follow a broader purge of hundreds of posts and guidance materials from Khan’s period, and they come amid a change in administration and new White House messaging that favours “open” models. The FTC has not explained the removals, and outside observers warn of potential legal and transparency issues under federal records laws.

Key Points

• Several FTC blog posts on AI published during Lina Khan’s chairmanship were removed or redirected in mid‑2025.
• Notable removals include the July 10, 2024 “On Open-Weights Foundation Models” blog, an October 2023 post on consumer AI concerns, and a January 3, 2025 piece on AI and consumer harm.
• Redirects and deletions occurred between mid‑August and early September 2025, according to Wayback Machine records cited by WIRED.
• The removals follow a larger purge earlier in 2025 when the agency deleted some 300 posts related to AI, consumer protection, and litigation topics.
• Observers warn the removals may conflict with the Federal Records Act and the Open Government Data Act, which require preservation of records with legal, administrative, or historical value.
• Critics note the timing aligns with a policy shift under the Trump administration and new FTC leadership that has signalled more favourable language toward open models.
• Many posts authored directly by Lina Khan remain available, but the selective deletions raise questions about institutional memory and regulatory signalling to industry.

Author style

Punchy: this is a sharp, high‑stakes change — not just housekeeping. If regulators quietly erase guidance, companies, researchers and the public lose the context they need to interpret enforcement priorities and policy direction. Read the detail if you care about how AI governance is being recorded (or rewritten).

Context and Relevance

Why this matters: government blog posts and guidance shape expectations across industry, academia and civil society. Removing historical posts about AI—especially those that explain the agency’s thinking on open models and consumer risks—can obscure past reasoning, complicate legal and compliance work, and signal a shift in enforcement priorities. The deletions occur against a backdrop of a new White House AI plan promoting “open” models and advisers pushing similar themes, which suggests the removals may be part of a broader realignment of federal AI policy.

Implications: practitioners tracking AI regulation should note potential changes in FTC posture toward open‑weight/open‑source models, and transparency advocates should watch for records‑preservation and public‑access challenges. For companies, the episode is a reminder that regulatory guidance can change quickly and that archived sources matter for compliance and historical record.

Why should I read this?

Short version: because someone at a major US regulator is quietly erasing public explanations about AI policy. If you follow AI rules, regulation or tech governance, this is the kind of bureaucratic move that can change what firms expect from enforcement — and make it harder for researchers and journalists to hold agencies to account. It’s a tidy, important flag that policy is shifting and that archived posts still matter.

Source

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/ftc-removes-blog-posts-about-ai-authored-by-by-lina-khan/