Lina Khan Says Big Tech Self-Regulation Has Been a Proven Failure

Former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan told ABC's This Week on Sunday that "self-regulation efforts by big tech have been a proven failure," according to the ABC transcript. The remark is her policy assessment, not an established finding.

Khan spoke after an ABC report on a White House summit Tuesday that brought together the leaders of the most powerful tech companies, where the top leaders of the AI industry said they would police themselves, according to the transcript. Khan said people should remember what happened a decade ago, when big tech and social media companies also suggested that existing laws and regulations no longer applied to their new technologies and said they would self-police instead.

Anchor George Stephanopoulos also asked Khan what the FTC's investigation into OpenAI could yield, the transcript shows. The interview aired on October 4, 2026, one month before the midterm elections. ABC notes the page is a rush transcript that may contain minor transcription errors and may be updated.