What If Your AI Breaks the Antitrust Laws?

A company tells its AI to maximize profits. It does not tell the AI to set prices, to collude with competitors, or to shut out competitors. But what if the AI comes up with those strategies on its own? A recent example is the case of an AI agent and a gym booking system. The larger issue is that humans are increasingly describing the goal, and AI is choosing the method. On this episode of EconWorks, we look at what these developments could mean for antitrust law. If an AI learns to cooperate with competitors, then that raises the question of cartel law: Was there really an agreement? If a dominant firm's AI discovers ways to make life harder for rivals, the question leads to monopolization: Was the conduct ordinary competition or unlawful exclusion? The same issue could arise on the other side of the market if consumers use AI agents. This episode introduces three upcoming EconWorks series:* How Cartels Really Work* How Monopolization Really Works* When Your AI Meets Their AIThe bigger question is deceptively simple: What happens when we tell an AI what we want—but no longer determine exactly how it gets there?Read the full article and graphic analysis: https://blog.econworks.com/p/what-if-your-ai-breaks-the-antitrust?r=562wriExplore more visual economics content: https://econworks.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EconWorks-d3eSubstack: https://blog.econworks.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.econworks.com/subscribe