Antitrust May Smother the Power of AI

Left alone, AI could actually help small firms compete with tech giants.

- By Patrick Hedger

POPULISM CONTINUES TO blur political lines. Nowhere is that more apparent than in antitrust policy. For decades, conservatives largely held the line against left-wing antitrust hawks who see “monopolies” everywhere. But their mistrust of Big Tech’s political biases has caused the populist right to get more comfortable about unleashing antitrust. Odd alliances have formed with Republican senators openly praising some of the most progressive members of the Biden administration occupying high offices at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice. Adding a new wrinkle to this phenomenon is the dawn of the AI Age. We are seeing an ironic merger of panics.

What many see as a dystopian technological frontier with AI is just history repeating itself. New technology often disrupts dominant industries and firms in ways even the harshest antitrust remedies can’t match. AI should be no different, but bipartisan antitrust zeal may score a pyrrhic victory and halt this historical cycle.