Protecting Competition in New and Emerging Technologies

Bloomberg Law | Oct 30, 2024

• US antitrust enforcers must use existing enforcement tools to ensure mergers aren’t anticompetitive, that technology corporations don’t participate in unlawful collusion, and that companies don’t abuse their monopoly power to place their interests above the safety and well-being of consumers.

Pymnts | Oct 30, 2024

• Major tech companies have spent over $30 billion acquiring artificial intelligence startups while facing mounting antitrust concerns, as states rush to fill the federal regulatory void with nearly 700 AI-related bills introduced in 2024 — an almost 400% increase from 2023. The flurry of activity includes workplace-focused federal legislation targeting algorithmic bias and employee surveillance, with Colorado becoming the first state to enact comprehensive AI regulations.

EU Observer | Oct 28, 2024

• Big Tech is facing increasing governmental attempts to challenge its monopolistic power. But Big Tech itself, as well as the law firms defending these behemoths from antitrust investigations, are recruiting former regulators through the revolving door, and with seeming impunity.

The Information | Oct 28, 2024

• Microsoft on Monday accused Google of running “shadow campaigns” to turn monopoly regulators and the public against the enterprise and cloud incumbent and distract them from Google’s own antitrust woes. While Google has publicly alleged Microsoft is stifling competition in the cloud computing market, Microsoft said Google also formed a lobbying group to carry out this work but without acknowledging Google’s lead role in it.

The New York Times | Oct 26, 2024

• High-profile venture capitalists are demanding that Kamala Harris, if elected president, fire a top regulator for her aggressive policing of Big Tech. Not only do I disagree with them; I see their attacks as evidence of a bigger problem with the venture capital industry and, ultimately, our technology sector, which is a critical driver of our economy and society.

Fortune | Oct 25, 2024

• Should our future by decided by the bosses of big tech firms? For Nobel economics prize winner Simon Johnson, giving too much power to a handful of billionaires will come at the expense of public interest.

The Wall Street Journal | Oct 22, 2024

• Amazon, Google and Microsoft are investing billions in nuclear power, but the projects are years away and rely on unproven technology

The New York Times | Oct 22, 2024

• Big tech companies say A.I. can help solve climate change, even as it’s driving up their emissions and raising doubts about their climate goals.

Tech Policy Press | Oct 22, 2024

• The tech billionaires just won’t stop. These self-proclaimed oracles of our AI future continue to breathe life into that familiar bogeyman: regulation. Their warning to policymakers (landing particularly well in countries in the Global South dependent on big tech to drive digital growth): embrace regulation, and you’ll stifle homegrown innovation, relegating your country to a perpetual state of FOMO. Some would-be emperors in Silicon Valley pair this bogeyman with a clever manipulation of the term open-source to mislead, confuse, and divert policymakers’ attention. Together, the bogeyman and the misleading use of open source obscure the real stakes at play, especially for the Global South: consolidation of power, anti-competitiveness, dependency, and extractive profiteering at the expense of people, cultures, and communities.