After cloud providers, UK antitrust regulator takes aim at AI

Anti-competitive tying or bundling of products and services is making life harder for new entrants. Partnerships and investments — including in the supply of critical inputs such as data, compute power and technical expertise — also pose a competitive threat, according to Cardell.

She criticised the “winner-take-all dynamics” that have resulted in the domination of a “small number of powerful platforms” in the emerging market for AI-based technologies and services.

“We have seen instances of those incumbent firms leveraging their core market power to obstruct new entrants and smaller players from competing effectively, stymying the innovation and growth that free and open markets can deliver for our societies and our economies,” she said.

The UK’s pending Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill, alongside the CMA’s existing powers, could give the authority the ability to promote diversity and choice in the AI market.

Amazon and Nvidia declined to comment on Cardell’s speech while the other vendors name-checked in the speech —Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI — did not immediately reply.

Dan Shellard, a partner at European venture capital firm Breega and a former Google employee, said the CMA was right to be concerned about how the AI market was developing.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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