AI & antitrust: Reconciling tensions between competition law and cooperative AI development

Abstract

Cooperation between companies developing artificial intelligence (AI) can help them create AI systems that are safe, secure, and with broadly shared benefits. This paper examines fourteen forms of AI cooperation, both those that are applicable today and longer-term strategies that will apply when AI development is more advanced. The paper assesses these forms of AI cooperation in light of EU competition law, focusing on the competition law of the European Union (EU). The paper concludes that several forms of AI cooperation could infringe Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which prohibits agreements that restrict competition. The paper suggests mitigation steps to help ensure that these important safeguards to the responsible and beneficial development of AI are sustainable. – AI-generated abstract.