Euractiv - Ensuring competition in AI will also preserve democracy, experts say

Open Markets Institute’s executive director Barry Lynn called for regulators to focus on harms to democracy and human liberty.

In 2023, the German competition authority (Bundeskartellamt) looked at the artificial intelligence industry, especially the Microsoft OpenAI partnership. In January, the European Commission decided to look into competition in virtual worlds and generative AI and opened calls for contribution.

The French competition authority (Autorité de la Concurrence) also took the initiative to look into competitive practices of the sector in February.

“We [should] rename competition authorities or add a democracy competition competency in their names because this is what it is all about. Competition is also democracy protection,” Tobias Haar, member of the general counsel of generative AI startup Aleph Alpha, said on Monday.

Barry Lynn, executive director at the non-profit organisation Open Markets Institute, warned that AI amplifies existing digital downsides.

In his view, the EU should change its competition lenses “to focus on harms to democracy and human liberty”. From this perspective, one could “see that behaviour regulation of these corporations is most important”.

Of paramount importance is to limit Big Tech “ability to engage in manipulative, distortive, discriminatory behaviour,” Lynn said.

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