The Trump administration has abruptly eliminated four years of critical FTC business guidance, including key consumer protection information on AI and privacy enforcement. This unprecedented removal of over 300 blog posts from the Biden era raises serious legal concerns while potentially benefiting tech companies that donated to Trump’s inauguration and now advise his administration.
The big picture: The Federal Trade Commission has scrubbed its website of all business guidance blogs published during President Biden’s administration, removing crucial consumer protection information and enforcement precedents.
- Current and former FTC employees, speaking anonymously to WIRED, confirmed that more than 300 blogs were deleted from the agency’s website as of Tuesday.
- The purged content included award-winning guidance on artificial intelligence regulation and documentation of landmark privacy settlements with major tech firms like Amazon and Microsoft.
Key details: The deleted blogs contained specific guidance for tech companies on complying with consumer protection laws and avoiding deceptive practices.
- One removed post titled “Hey, Alexa! What are you doing with my data?” detailed FTC complaints against Amazon and Ring security cameras for allegedly misusing sensitive consumer data.
- Another deleted blog explained Microsoft’s $20 million settlement for illegally collecting children’s data through Xbox systems without parental consent.
- An award-winning 2023 post on “The Luring Test: AI and the engineering of consumer trust” provided guidance on creating chatbots that wouldn’t violate FTC rules against deceptive products.
Why this matters: The removals erase critical regulatory guidance during a time of significant industry transformation, particularly regarding AI development and data privacy practices.
- “In terms of the message to industry on what our compliance expectations were, which is in some ways the most important part of enforcement action, they are trying to just erase those from history,” one source told WIRED.
Legal implications: The blog removals may violate federal laws regarding government records and transparency.
- A former FTC official told WIRED the deletions raise “serious compliance concerns under the Federal Records Act and the Open Government Data Act.”
- During previous administration transitions, the FTC would place “warning” labels on outdated guidance rather than removing it completely, fearing deletion would violate the law.
Industry connections: The Trump administration has received substantial support from the same tech companies that were subject to the FTC’s enforcement actions.
- Tech giants including Amazon and Meta, as well as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, donated to Trump’s inauguration fund.
- Tech industry figures Elon Musk and David Sacks are officially advising the administration.
What they’re saying: Sources claim tech companies are the only beneficiaries of removing these regulatory documents.
- “They are talking a big game on censorship. But at the end of the day, the thing that really hits these companies bottom line is what data they can collect, how they can use that data, whether they can train their AI models on that data,” a source alleged to WIRED.
Recent Stories
DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment
The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...
Oct 17, 2025Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom
Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...
Oct 17, 2025Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development
The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...