Following the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022, a wave of excitement about generative artificial intelligence (AI) swept the world. In addition to the popular interest, companies have begun utilizing AI throughout their businesses. However, as the technology becomes interwoven throughout commercial operations, AI could potentially raise antitrust risk. Antitrust enforcers have taken note and sought to reconcile the use of AI with antitrust laws.

U.S. Enforcers Highlight Applicability of Antitrust Laws to AI Technology

Enforcers at both the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division have repeatedly affirmed their interest in applying and adapting existing legal frameworks of antitrust law to potential violations facilitated by AI technology. On April 25, 2023, for example, the FTC and DOJ, together with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, issued a joint statement on enforcement efforts in which they affirmed that “[e]xisting legal authorities apply to the use of automated systems and innovative new technologies just as they apply to other practices.” Rohit Chopra et al., Joint Statement on Enforcement Efforts Against Discrimination and Bias in Automated Systems (Apr. 25, 2023).