US and Foreign Regulators Affirm the Importance of Effective Competition in AI

The FTC, the DOJ, the European Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority affirmed their commitment to ensure "effective competition" and "the fair and honest treatment of consumers and businesses" in the AI ecosystem.

In a joint statement, the regulators said that while AI has "great potential benefits," there are "risks requiring ongoing vigilance."

The regulators highlighted the following competitive risks related to AI:

• Concentrated control of key inputs. The regulators said that "specialized chips, substantial compute, data at scale, and specialist technical expertise" could put companies in a position "to exploit existing or emerging bottlenecks across the AI stack." As a result, these companies could have "outsized influence" over the future development of these tools. The regulators raised concern that this could "limit the scope of disruptive innovation" or allow companies an advantage "at the expense of fair competition."
• Entrenching or extending market power in AI-related markets. The regulators said that large incumbent digital firms already enjoy "strong accumulated advantages" and "may have substantial market power" in the AI market. The regulators said that this market power could give firms "the ability to protect" against AI-driven disruption or to "harness it" to their advantage and that these large incumbent firms could "extend or entrench" their established positions to the detriment of future competition.
• Arrangements involving key players could amplify risks. The regulators pointed out the widespread partnerships and financial investments among firms related to the development of generative AI. The regulators cautioned that major firms could use these partnerships "to undermine or coopt competitive threats" and "steer market outcomes" in their favor at the public's expense.

The regulators said that while AI competition questions will be "fact-specific," several common principles—fair dealing, interoperability, and choice—will generally serve to enable competition and foster innovation.