The head of the German antitrust agency issues a warning about Big Tech’s increasing dominance as AI advances
The director of Germany’s antitrust regulator, Andreas Mundt, has recently expressed alarm about the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to increase the market dominance of large tech corporations. To stop anti-competitive activity in the field of artificial intelligence, Mundt underlined the necessity for strict regulatory control.
This warning from Mundt highlights the recurring concerns among authorities about tech companies acquiring an unfair edge in new AI applications because they control vast banks of user data. These applications include a wide range of industries, such as smart homes, web search, online advertising, cars, and a wide range of other goods and services.
Notably, Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft have lately become rivals in the field of artificial intelligence, both investing heavily on AI programs. While Google has invested in initiatives like the Bard AI chatbot and other strategic initiatives, Microsoft has heavily invested in OpenAI.
Governments all across the globe have reacted to the rising popularity of AI by creating laws and regulations controlling its usage. In particular, the European Union is pressed for time to pass its historic AI laws before the year is through.
In an interview with Reuters, Mundt emphasized the need of preventing AI from strengthening the power of large enterprises. The underlying risk, he said, resides in the requirements for successful AI: powerful servers and enormous amounts of data, both of which huge internet businesses have in spades.
While acknowledging that there is still competition in the AI industry, Mundt encouraged policymakers to take action to maintain this competitive environment. He also mentioned the potential for AI products from smaller vendors to become widely adopted, develop into new platforms or even operating systems, and even upend the existing tech hierarchy.
“In this rapidly evolving space,” Mundt said, “both scenarios are conceivable, and as regulatory authorities, we must exercise prudence to ensure that any potential for competition is not stifled prematurely.”
This timely reminder from Germany’s antitrust commissioner highlights the complex benefits and problems that the emergence of AI provides for the tech sector as well as the need for attentive regulation to avoid excessive power concentration.
