Competition Policy RPN - Gen AI & Market Power: What Role for Antitrust Regulators?

AI solutionism vs AI catastrophism, hype and fearmongering, new rules and new business models. On Wednesday, 12 July 2023, 5-6:30 PM (CET), 4-5:30 PM (UK), 11 AM-12:30 PM (EST), the CEPR Competition Policy RPN organised a discussion between top economists and antitrust regulators on the risk of market power being “grandfathered” into the future by current digital giants, and protecting emerging competition in Gen AI.

Gen AI & Market Power:
What Role for Antitrust Regulators?  

Daron Acemoglu (Institute Professor, MIT & Research Fellow, CEPR) will discuss insights from his new book (Power and Progress, with S. Johnson, Hachette 2023) with Andreas Mundt (President, Bundeskartellamt), Joshua Gans (Professor of Management, University of Toronto, co-author of Power and Prediction: the Disruptive Economics of AI, 2022), Susan Athey (Professor of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business and Chief Economist, US DOJ Antitrust Division). 

Chaired by Cristina Caffarra (Keystone Europe & Competition Policy RPN Co-Founder and Steering Committee Vice-Chair).

Introduction by Tommaso Valletti (Professor of Economics, Imperial College London, Research Fellow, CEPR and Leader, Competition Policy RPN)

The explosive rise of Gen AI raises multiple issues – from its impact on labour markets and productivity, on the direction of innovation, amplifying disinformation, exploitation of personal information and the relationship with data protection. It also raises major economic power questions: is it a disruptive technology where structures will remain open, or are incumbent tech companies going to preserve and project their power into the future? Where are moats being created? Will regulators miss the opportunity, as with social networks and the internet? Do we need new ad hoc rules? Will it be too late? Is early action possible without stifling innovation? What role for existing competition law? What are antitrust regulators thinking?