The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a proposed order against Workado, LLC, requiring the company to stop making unsubstantiated claims about the accuracy of its artificial intelligence (AI) detection products. This order comes after allegations that Workado misled consumers regarding the effectiveness of its AI Content Detector, which was marketed as being able to determine whether content was generated by AI or written by a human.

According to FTC officials, consumers relied on Workado’s AI Content Detector, which claimed to have a 98 percent accuracy rate. However, independent testing revealed that the actual accuracy for general-purpose content was only 53 percent, raising concerns about the misleading nature of the company's advertising. The FTC asserts that such false claims not only deceive consumers but also hinder competition by making it difficult for legitimate AI product providers to reach their audience.

The proposed order aims to prevent Workado from making similar misleading claims in the future. It stipulates that the company must have competent and reliable evidence to support any effectiveness claims about its products. Additionally, Workado is required to retain evidence used to substantiate these claims, inform eligible consumers about the consent order, and submit compliance reports to the FTC annually for three years following the order's issuance.

The FTC's decision to issue the administrative complaint and accept the consent agreement was unanimous, with a 3-0 vote. The proposed order will be published in the Federal Register and is open for public comment for 30 days. After reviewing the comments, the FTC will decide whether to finalize the consent order, which, if violated, could result in civil penalties of up to $53,088.