    [Federal Register Volume 90, Number 84 (Friday, May 2, 2025)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 18857-18858]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 2025-07617]

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    FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

    [File No. 232 3092]

    Workado, LLC, f/k/a Content at Scale AI; Analysis of Proposed
    Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

    ACTION: Proposed consent agreement; request for comment.

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    SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged
    violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or
    practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid
    Public Comment describes both the allegations in the complaint and the
    terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--that
    would settle these allegations.

    DATES: Comments must be received on or before June 2, 2025.

    ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file comments online or on paper by
    following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Please write ``Workado; File
    No. 232 3092'' on your comment and file your comment online at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the web-based
    form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, please mail your
    comment to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600
    Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580.

    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ben Halpern-Meekin (206-220-0000) and
    Joe Lipinsky (206-220-4437), Attorneys, Northwest Region, Bureau of
    Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 400 7th St. SW,
    Washington, DC 20024.

    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal
    Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule Sec.  2.34, 16 CFR
    2.34, notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement
    containing a consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with
    and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been
    placed on the public record for a period of 30 days. The following
    Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the consent
    agreement and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic copy of
    the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained at
    https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions.
        You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
    consider your comment, we must receive it on or before June 2, 2025.
    Write ``Workado; File No. 232 3092'' on your comment. Your comment--
    including your name and your State--will be placed on the public record
    of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the
    https://www.regulations.gov website.
        Because of heightened security screening, postal mail addressed to
    the Commission will be subject to delay. We strongly encourage you to
    submit your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov
    website. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Workado;
    File No. 232 3092'' on your comment and on the envelope, and send it
    via overnight service to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the
    Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex D),
    Washington, DC 20580.
        Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible
    website at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for
    making sure your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential
    information. In particular, your comment should not include sensitive
    personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social Security
    number; date of birth; driver's license number or other State
    identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number;
    financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also
    solely responsible for making sure your comment does not include
    sensitive health information, such as medical records or other
    individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
    should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial
    information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by
    section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule Sec.
    4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including competitively sensitive
    information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
    patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
        Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
    requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled
    ``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule Sec.  4.9(c). In
    particular, the written request for confidential treatment that
    accompanies the comment must include the factual and legal basis for
    the request and must identify the specific portions of the comment to
    be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule Sec.  4.9(c). Your
    comment will be kept confidential only if the General Counsel grants
    your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Once
    your comment has been posted on the

    [[Page 18858]]

    https://www.regulations.gov website--as legally required by FTC Rule
    Sec.  4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from that
    website, unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the
    requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule Sec.  4.9(c), and the
    General Counsel grants that request.
        Visit the FTC website at https://www.ftc.gov to read this document
    and the news release describing the proposed settlement. The FTC Act
    and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of
    public comments to consider and use in this proceeding, as appropriate.
    The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments
    it receives on or before June 2, 2025. For information on the
    Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the
    Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

    Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

        The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') has accepted, subject
    to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from
    Workado, LLC, f/k/a Content at Scale AI (``Workado''). The proposed
    consent order (``proposed order'') has been placed on the public record
    for 30 days for receipt of public comments by interested persons.
    Comments received during this period will become part of the public
    record. After thirty days, the Commission will again review the
    agreement and the comments received and will decide whether it should
    withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate action or make final
    the agreement's proposed order.
        In response to public concerns about the difficulty identifying
    content created through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), the
    market has responded with AI detection products. Workado markets and
    offers for sale an AI text detector. Workado claimed its AI text
    detector could classify text as human-created or AI-generated with over
    98 percent accuracy across all types of text from generative AI
    programs, like ChatGPT, Claude, and GPT-4.
        The complaint alleges Workado violated section 5(a) of the FTC Act
    because its accuracy claim was false or misleading or was not
    substantiated at the time the representation was made. The complaint
    specifically alleges Workado lacked competent and reliable evidence to
    show its AI detector could perform with 98 percent accuracy across many
    types of text generated by a wide range of generative AI programs. The
    complaint also alleges the AI model powering Workado's detector was
    trained or fine-tuned to accurately classify only academic content,
    rather than the types of marketing content submitted by Workado users,
    making it incapable of performing with 98 percent accuracy for its
    intended purpose. Further, testing shows the AI model powering
    Workado's detector could correctly classify non-academic AI-generated
    text with around 53 percent accuracy.
        The proposed order contains provisions designed to prevent Workado
    from engaging in these and similar acts and practices in the future.
    The proposed order covers products that detect or purport to detect
    content, including text, images, and video, generated or altered by AI
    in any way.
        Provision I prohibits Workado from making any representation about
    the efficacy of any product covered by the proposed order unless that
    representation is not misleading and Workado has competent and reliable
    evidence that is sufficient in quantity, quality, and timeliness to
    support its claim.
        Provision II requires Workado to retain any competent and reliable
    evidence, including competent and reliable scientific evidence, upon
    which it relies to substantiate any claim about the efficacy of any
    product covered by the proposed order. Provision III requires Workado
    to post, not later than one day after making covered claims, on any of
    its web pages concerning a product covered by this proposed order, a
    statement describing its substantiating evidence for claims about that
    product. Provision IV requires Workado to email eligible customers with
    notice of the consent order and the settlement.
        Provisions V through IX relate to notice and compliance. Provision
    V requires that Workado acknowledge receipt of the order; distribute
    the order to principals, officers, and certain employees and agents;
    and obtain signed acknowledgements from them. Provision VI requires
    Workado to submit compliance reports to the Commission one year after
    the order's issuance, for three years thereafter, and when certain
    events occur. Provision VII requires Workado to create certain records
    for 10 years and retain them for five years thereafter. Provision VIII
    requires Workado to provide information or documents necessary to
    monitor compliance with the order during the period of the order's
    effective dates. Provision IX provides the effective dates of the
    order, including that, with exceptions, the order will terminate in 20
    years.
        The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
    proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official
    interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify in any
    way the proposed order's terms.

        By direction of the Commission.
    Joel Christie,
    Acting Secretary.
    [FR Doc. 2025-07617 Filed 5-1-25; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 6750-01-P