The UK competition watchdog has begun reviewing the artificial intelligence market, including the models behind popular chatbots such as ChatGPT. This is because the industry is increasingly in the crosshairs of global regulators.
Sarah Cardell, CEO of the UK Competition and Markets Authority, said that Watchdog is looking at so-called underlying models (such as the software underlying ChatGPT) and “how the markets around these models are developing”. He said he would investigate.
She told the Financial Times that regulators would assess “the real opportunities out there,” but that “what guardrails, how to ensure competition works effectively?” should we develop such principles?” [and] Consumers are protected. ”
This review comes at a time when regulators around the world are stepping up scrutiny over the development of generative AI that can produce images and text that are nearly indistinguishable from human output.
The sector has been a rare bright spot for UK tech innovation, in part due to the success of DeepMind, a domestic start-up acquired by Google in 2014.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission issued a warning to the industry, stating, “How companies are using AI technology, including new generative AI tools, in ways that could have a real and substantive impact on consumers. We are seriously considering whether to do so,” he said. ”.
Chief executives of AI companies such as Google, Microsoft and ChatGPT maker OpenAI are also scheduled to meet with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday to discuss the safety of their products.
Appointed in December, Cardell said the CMA’s “fact-finding” mandate on AI involves “many stakeholders with varying interests, [including] It is intended for businesses, academia, and others to collect a wealth of broad information. ’” She said the review was not targeted to “specific companies.”
Large-scale AI models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s LaMDA powering the Bard chatbot, are very expensive and difficult to develop and run. As a result, it remains in the hands of a handful of companies such as Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and well-funded start-ups such as Anthropic and Character.ai.
Cardell was speaking to the FT following the regulator’s decision to block Microsoft’s $75 billion acquisition. call of duty Developer Activision Blizzard said last week that the decision, made by an independent committee, elicited a fierce reaction from Microsoft president Brad Smith. He accused Britain of “closing business” and stifling innovation.
Cardell said: . . talks a lot [start-ups] What they really want is an open and competitive marketplace where they can compete fairly and effectively. ”
She added that regulators are not “anti-digital mergers,” but that they “clearly and broadly acknowledge that there has been historically poor enforcement when it comes to merger management, especially technology.”
Cardell, who served as CMA’s general counsel until last year, said CMA did not take an “arbitrary, unpredictable and overly interventionist approach” to the acquisition.
Former Slaughter & May lawyers have taken over as regulators prepare to assume broad powers to monitor the behavior of technology groups.
A law introduced to Congress in April gave the CMA the power to direct the most powerful tech companies on how to treat their customers and to fine those who violate the new rules up to 10% of their turnover. is given.
Cardell said the new digital markets division’s decisions about which companies to target with its coordinated rules will be informed by work evaluating markets such as the mobile phone ecosystem. In last year’s final report on the latter, regulators said they had good reason to target both Apple and Google with specific codes of conduct.
