Episode 15- Friso Bostoen - AI Agents, the DMA, and Pricing Training Data

In this episode, Anush and Kena are joined by Friso Bostoen, Assistant Professor of Competition Law and Digital Regulation at Tilburg University, to explore the competition policy challenges posed by AI agents. The conversation examines whether the EU's Digital Markets Act is equipped to handle autonomous AI systems that can book flights, make purchases, and interact with businesses on our behalf. Friso shares his analysis of how existing gatekeeper obligations apply to this emerging technology, the regulatory gaps that remain, and why today's tech giants may be best positioned to dominate the AI agent market. The discussion also turns to Friso's recent work on putting a price on AI training data, exploring what lessons competition law can draw from frameworks governing standard essential patents, collecting societies, and platform publisher negotiations.