AI and Antitrust

Recent advancements in Artificial Intelligence coupled with an aggressive Federal Trade Commission has made antitrust more of a hot button issue. The Justice Department’s recent case against Google is one of many lawsuits in the pipeline trying to rein in Big Tech. Does AI increase the threat of the formation of monopolies? What degree of regulation, if any, is needed to foster competition as a precondition for a healthy free market? The following is a series of pieces from scholars in the SmithSoc orbit who provide thoughtful insights into these questions.

• In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Manhattan Institute trustee and former U.S. attorney general William P. Barr argues that Big Tech is trying to quash competition in the AI space, posing a threat to market competition and national security.
• Corbin K. Barthold of TechFreedom contends that the FTC’s aggressive approach is based on an historical reading of antitrust law.
• In a Mercatus Center Hayek Program podcast, Don Boudreaux and Rosolino Candela discuss the revival of antitrust policy.
• Writing for City Journal online, Ryan M. Yonk and Ethan Yang compare the Biden Administration’s antitrust strategy to the EU’s harmful regulatory approach.
• In an EconTalk interview with Russ Roberts, Duke’s Michael Munger explains the history of antitrust and why he thinks it is a threat to innovation.