As the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies reshapes industries globally, antitrust regulators and enforcers remain vigilant in ensuring healthy competition within this evolving landscape. Current scrutiny focuses on how control over key inputs, such as advanced compute or cloud infrastructure, can create structural bottlenecks. In addition, there are concerns about how the dual nature of AI partnerships and investments can expand market entry and accelerate innovation but could also create exclusion or “kill zone” effects, depending on the deal’s structure and market conditions. Finally, regulators and enforcers are considering the risks associated with algorithmic pricing creating collusion. 

In their article “Cracking Down on AI: Antitrust Issues Reshaping the Future,” Directors Emilie Feyler and Asta Sendonaris argue that traditional antitrust economic tools remain applicable to AI markets but that their application requires careful adaptation to the distinctive technological, structural, and dynamic characteristics of AI ecosystems. Dr. Feyler and Dr. Sendonaris discuss how the expansion of AI is transforming the way regulators, courts, and practitioners need to evaluate the basic economic questions surrounding foreclosure, merger effects, and collusion. They explore key insights on these pressing antitrust questions, highlighting how economists can help disentangle the different dynamics in AI markets in light of the necessary balance between innovation and competition.