FTC opens Section 6(b) inquiry into personalized pricing and worker compensation

On 28 October 2026 the Federal Trade Commission announced a Section 6(b) compulsory-process inquiry issuing special orders to nine major US companies — Delta, United, JetBlue, Lyft, Uber, DoorDash, Instacart, Target and Walmart — demanding disclosure of the data inputs, methodologies, algorithms and software used to set individualized consumer prices and, for gig platforms, driver/worker compensation. Chairman Andrew Ferguson said the FTC intends to 'scrutinize the opaque methodology' used to determine what consumers pay and what gig workers are paid; a 2-0 vote gives the Commission compulsory power to enforce compliance in federal court. Companies have 45 days to respond. It escalates the FTC's August 2026 proposed Enforcement Policy Statement on personalized pricing by moving from a general proposed policy to actual targeted orders, and extends the theory to compensation as well as consumer pricing.

This is a direct regulatory intervention into AI/algorithm-driven 'surveillance pricing' and algorithmic wage-setting. Any organisation that sets individual prices or gig-worker pay using machine learning and personal data now faces explicit FTC scrutiny and a disclosure duty for the data inputs and methods behind those decisions. It establishes that AI-driven pricing and compensation decisions are an FTC enforcement priority, with a 45-day information deadline for the named firms and clear exposure for others using similar algorithmic personalisation.

Companies using personalized or algorithmic pricing (and platforms setting gig-worker compensation) should inventory the data inputs, algorithms, vendor relationships and testing behind those decisions, and prepare the disclosure package the FTC orders will require. Named firms must respond within 45 days; all others should treat this as a signal to document their pricing/compensation methodologies ahead of inquiry or enforcement.