The Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday sent civil subpoenas to AI giants seeking documents about safety incidents that have spiraled into an industry crisis .

The FTC sought documents from Anthropic and OpenAI in a probe focused on potential consumer protection violations, a person familiar told Axios.

Why it matters: The investigation is one of a number of steps the administration has taken to show a firm hand with AI companies after multiple incidents in which unreleased models hacked websites or took deceptive or aggressive steps in testing.

State of play: The agency on Wednesday sent out civil investigative demands, which help the government gather evidence and investigate ahead of potential litigation.

They are more than 50 pages long each and ask for documents concerning security incidents and safeguarding practices.…