Workado (Formerly Content at Scale AI): FTC Final Order Over Unsupported "98 Percent" Accuracy Claim for Its AI Content Detector (2025)

Summary

On April 28, 2025, the Federal Trade Commission announced an administrative complaint and proposed consent order against Workado, LLC, formerly Content at Scale AI, an Arizona company that sold an AI Content Detector meant to tell whether written text was AI-generated, with a $49-a-month paid subscription from September 2023 to August 2024. The FTC alleged that Workado advertised the detector as 98 percent (98.3%) accurate and as trained on varied material such as blog posts and Wikipedia entries, when the model it used, which it did not build, train or fine-tune, was trained on abstracts of scholarly articles. According to the complaint, Workado relied on the model developers' published test results for academic content and did not test the detector on the marketing and plain-language text its users typically submit; the developers' own results showed 74.5% accuracy at best on a mix of non-academic content and correct detection of AI-generated non-academic text only 53.2% of the time. The FTC's April release put general-purpose accuracy at 53 percent. Workado neither admitted nor denied the allegations. The Commission issued the final Decision and Order on August 21, 2025, after public comment, barring effectiveness claims for AI-detection products unless they are not misleading and backed by competent and reliable evidence, and requiring Workado to keep that evidence, email eligible consumers about the order, and file compliance reports for four years. The claims are the FTC's allegations; the order contains no finding of violation and no monetary payment.

Consequence

• FTC Decision and Order (Docket No. C-4822) issued August 21, 2025, after a public comment period
• Workado barred from making effectiveness claims for AI content detection products unless they are not misleading and supported by competent and reliable evidence when made
• Workado required to email eligible consumers about the consent order and settlement
• Workado required to submit a compliance report one year after the order and annually for three years after that

Who caught it A regulatorFound outside the organization

Key dates

1. April 28, 2025Event
2. October 21, 2026Checked against sources

Developments are added when the record is reviewed. Next review: October 21, 2027.

Evidence

Each passage is quoted from its source. The quoted passages are re-checked against the live pages every month.

1. The order settles allegations that Workado promoted its AI Content Detector as “98 percent” accurate in detecting whether text was written by AI or human. But independent testing showed the accuracy rate on general-purpose content was just 53 percent

   Supports: the alleged 98 percent claim and the FTC's 53 percent general-purpose accuracy figure

   The FTC alleges, however, that the AI model powering the AI Content Detector was only trained or fine-tuned to effectively classify academic content.

   Supports: allegation: the model was effective only on academic content

   The Commission vote to issue the administrative complaint and to accept the consent agreement was 3-0.

   Supports: the Commission accepted the consent agreement (April 2025)

   Agency alleges Workado lacks evidence to support its claims that its AI Content Detector tool was 98 percent accurate at detecting AI-generated text April 28, 2025

   Supports: announcement date April 28, 2025

   FTC Order Requires Workado to Back Up Artificial Intelligence Detection Claims Federal Trade Commission (press release, April 28, 2025) Primary source

2. Respondent claims that its AI Content Detector will predict with 98.3% accuracy whether text was generated using AI technology such as ChatGPT, GPT4, Claude, Bard, or another generative AI technology.

   Supports: the alleged 98.3% accuracy claim

   In fact, the AI model Respondent uses for its AI Content Detector was trained on abstracts of scholarly articles. Respondent did not create, train, or fine tune the AI model used in its AI Content Detector, nor has it tested whether the AI Content Detector would achieve the same accuracy rate

   Supports: allegations: model trained on scholarly abstracts; not built or tuned by Workado; not tested on users' typical text

   the developers’ best result for the AI Model’s accuracy when evaluating a mix of human-created and AI-generated non-academic content was 74.5%.

   Supports: the developers' results: 74.5% best accuracy on a mix of non-academic content

   The developers’ testing data also showed that the AI Model struggled to identify AI-generated content as AI-generated when evaluating non- academic content, correctly detecting AI-generated text merely 53.2% of the time.

   Supports: the developers' results: 53.2% detection of AI-generated non-academic text

   Beginning in September 2023 and continuing until August 2024, Respondent added a $49 per month paid subscription option for the AI Content Detector on its website.

   Supports: the paid subscription, September 2023 to August 2024

   Respondent relied solely on the publicly available testing results for the AI Model’s evaluation of academic content, to claim an accuracy rate of 98.3%.

   Supports: allegation: the 98.3% claim rested only on the developers' academic-content results

   In the Matter of Workado, LLC, f/k/a Content at Scale AI: Complaint (FTC File No. 232-3092) Federal Trade Commission Primary source

3. By the Commission. April J. Tabor Secretary SEAL: ISSUED: August 21, 2025

   Supports: final Decision and Order issued August 21, 2025

   One year after the issuance date of this Order, and annually thereafter for 3 years, Respondent must submit a compliance report

   Supports: compliance reporting obligation

   statements by Respondent that it neither admits nor denies any of the allegations in the Complaint

   Supports: Workado neither admitted nor denied the allegations

   DOCKET NO. C-4822

   Supports: docket number

   In the Matter of Workado, LLC, f/k/a Content at Scale AI: Decision and Order (Docket No. C-4822) Federal Trade Commission Primary source

4. Is prohibited from making any representations about the effectiveness of any AI content detection product unless it is not misleading, and the company has competent and reliable evidence to support the claim at the time it is made;

   Supports: order term: no effectiveness claims without competent and reliable evidence

   Must email eligible consumers about the consent order and settlement with the Commission

   Supports: order term: notify eligible consumers by email

   Following a public comment period, the Commission voted 3-0 to approve the final consent order and respond to two comments the FTC received on the proposed order.

   Supports: final approval after public comment (announced August 28, 2025)

   FTC Approves Final Order against Workado, LLC, Which Misrepresented the Accuracy of its Artificial Intelligence Content Detection Product Federal Trade Commission (press release, August 28, 2025) Primary source