Commission welcomes G7 leaders' agreement on Guiding Principles and a Code of Conduct on Artificial Intelligence

 EC, here. 

President Biden Issues Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence

 Here. The Order, here.

Brandeis and Eucken: Two Pioneers of the Modern ‘Big Tech and Antitrust Debate’

M. Wörsdörfer, here. 

Decoding the AI Act: A Critical Guide for Competition Experts

 T. Schrepel, here. 

Reclaiming our digital future: shedding light on big tech lobbying in the European Parliament

 Greens, Video here. 

The world wants to regulate AI, but does not quite know how

 The Economist, here (and here). 

Questioning @Ofcom @CMAgovUK @TheFCA @ICOnews on how #ArtificialIntelligence is already affecting their work,

 UK Parliament, video here. 

Monopoly Power Is the Elephant in the Room in the AI Debate

 M. von Thun (Open Markets Institute), here. 

How AI Can Be Regulated Like Nuclear Energy

 H. Khlaaf, here. 

The New Merger Guidelines: Controlling Case Law and New Economics

 

The Utah Project, here (Friday, October 27, 2023, online from 5 PM CET). 

US v Google Trial Transcripts

 Capitol, here. 

"Trial of the Century": USA vs Google

 BIICL, Video here. 

DOJ v. Google Witness Tracker

 Here. 

Flight cancelled: the EC's prohibition of the Booking / Etraveli deal

 Linklaters, here.

AI Act: EU countries headed to tiered approach on foundation models amid broader compromise

 Euractiv, here. 

AI COMPANY ANTHROPIC RECENTLY SECURED UP TO $4BN IN INVESTMENT FROM AMAZON. NOW IT’S BEING SUED FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT BY UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP.

 Musuîc Business Worldwide, here. 

ICN 2023 Barcelona: Recommended online watching

 18 October

- 9.30: Reynders keynote

- 11.15 Khan keynote/interview

- 11.30 Digital mergers;

19 October

- 9 : Coeuré keynote

- 9.15: Challenges around unilateral conduct cases

- 10.15: Intersection between Competition & Privacy

20 October

- 11: Transforming Cartel Enforcement in ICN’s Third Decade: Current Trends and the Challenges Ahead

More plenary sessions here.

My impromptu reactions while listening are on the XBird, here. 

I scanned this article (badly, sorry!) for my Students, interested? Digital Platforms and Antitrust: Towards a More Techno-Economic Approach

Here.  

AI Act: EU countries headed to tiered approach on foundation models amid broader compromise

 BigLuca, here. 

Draft G7 Guiding Principles for Organizations Developing Advanced AI systems

 Here (and here). 

Safeguarding Data and Innovation: Building the Foundation for the Use of Artificial Intelligence

 House Committee Hearing, here. 

European Competition Day 2023

 Video here. 

Big techs in finance

 BIS, here. 

The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence

 Freedom House, here. 

8th CUTS-CIRC Biennial Conference on Competition, Regulation and Development

Day one; two.  

Foundation Models Supply Chain

 A recap: 

On compute here;

on accountability here;

on market concentration here. 

Intelligence artificielle : la CNIL dévoile ses premières réponses pour une IA innovante et respectueuse de la vie privée

 Ici. 

Exercising workers’ rights in algorithmic management systems

 ETUI, here. 

The future of digital mergers in a post-DMA world

 V. Robertson, here. 

Slingshot on the Amazon FTC Complait

 Podcast here. 

Green Agreements Guidance

 CMA, here. 

AN ANTIMONOPOLY APPROACH TO GOVERNING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 T. Narechania, G. Sitaraman, here. 

Microsoft concession a gamechanger that will promote competition

 CMA, here. 

Connected Conversation: Collective data rights: do we need them and what should they look like?

 Connected by data, here. 

EDPS Opinion 42/2023 on the Proposal for two Directives on AI liability rules

 Here. 

Government of Canada launches consultation on the implications of generative artificial intelligence for copyright

 Here. 

Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard’s deal for cloud gaming rights, explained

 The Verge, here. 

French Copyright framework for artificial intelligence: a half-hearted attempt

 The IPKat, here. 

Charting a Course for Global AI Governance: Options and Lessons from Nuclear History

 D. Backovsky, J. Bryson, here. 

Rising Above Liability: The Digital Services Act as a Blueprint for the Second Generation of Global Internet Rules

 M. Husovec, here. 

Sustainability and Competition: From Hot Topic to Business As Usual?

 Kluwer Competition Law Blog, here. 

Global AI Regulation Tracker

 Techie_ray, here. 

We’re in a new Gilded Age. What did we learn from the last one?

 Vox, here. 

This House Believes Artificial Intelligence Is An Existential Threat | Cambridge Union

 Video, here. 

DMA Catch up

 Video, here. 

MAKING AI WORK FOR CREATORS AND THE COMMONS

 CC, here. 

Contributions to the consultation on the compliance report template published

 Here.

New DMA templates

 EC, here. 

App developers’ #DMAwishes

 Coalition for App Fairness & Others, here.

The Price-Fixing Economy

 M. Stoller, here. 

Will AI hamper our ability to crawl the web for useful data?

 Lost Boy, here. 

Generative AI: the US class action against Google Bard (and other AI tools) for web scraping

Kluwer Copyright Blog, here.  

Trust-busters come for AI’s building blocks

 Politico.com, here. 

US v. Google: A Primer

 Brookings, here. 

EU leadership in trustworthy AI: Guardrails, Innovation & Governance

 T. Breton, here. 

Getty Images CEO Craig Peters has a plan to defend photography from AI

 The Verge, here. 

Artists across industries are strategizing together around AI concerns

 TechCrunch, here. 

Antitrust Enforcement in the Crosshairs

 D. Bush at al., here. 

BBC Will Block ChatGPT AI From Scraping Its Content

 Deadline, here. 

Concorrenza, mercati digitali, investimenti. Il ruolo guida dell'Europa (Prima giornata)

 Video qui. 

Industrial Policy with Conditionalities: A Taxonomy and Sample Cases

 M. Mazzucato, D. Rodrik, here. 

Google’s Commitments under Section 19a of the German Competition Act

 Kluwer Competition Law Blog, here. 

INITIAL POLICY CONSIDERATIONS FOR GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

 OECD, here. 

CMA launches market investigation into cloud services

 CMA, here. 

Ofcom refers UK cloud market to CMA for investigation

Ofcom, here.  

Final Report here. 

Competition authorities in the 21st century: Adapting to a new economic landscape

M. Bokkerink (CMA), here.

Nach Millionenstrafe gegen Apple: Niederländische Regulierer fordern Öffnung

 Heise.de, hier. 

Meta planning ad-free subscription or tracking ads ‘choice’ in EU, per WSJ — in latest bid to keep snooping

 #NatashaTheGreat, here. 

Meta CJEU Judgment – When Competition Meets Privacy

 DMRH (aka as Chez Oles), Video here. 

Lawsuit Highlights Why Meat Has Been Overpriced for 40 Years

 Prospect, here. 

DOES EUROPE'S PAYMENTS STRATEGY ADD UP?

 CER, here. 

France set to regulate cloud market more than EU

 Euractiv, here. 

When you need to talk to your Students about search advertising - directly from the DOJ v. Google Trial (Exhibit)

 Google, here. 

Gaming without Frontiers: Copyright and Competition in the Changing Video Game Sector

 CREATe, here. 

Let's Talk Competition: DMA

 EC, Video here. 

The EU AI Act Enters Final Negotiations

 Tech Policy Press Podcast, here. 

Amazon Used Secret ‘Project Nessie’ Algorithm to Raise Prices

 

WSJ here (and here). Listen also to Tech News Briefing, here. 

Neue Bankdienste von Apple zeigen sich in Großbritannien

 Heise.de, hier. 

UK IaaS market: Deeper probe by competition regulator lands soon

 The Register, here. 

Artists Are Losing the War Against AI

 The Atlantic, here.

The New Law of the European Data Market: Demystifying the European Data Strategy

 B. Botero Arcila, T. Groza, here.

Market concentration implications of foundation models: The Invisible Hand of ChatGPT

 Brookings, here.

The FTC’s landmark case against Amazon tackles the central issue of e-commerce market power

 Geradin Partners, here.

Leitlinien zu Artikel 102 AEUV – Neue Maßstäbe für die Missbrauchsaufsicht?

 Bundeskartellamt, Arbeitspapier hier. 

Nvidia’s French Offices Raided in Cloud-Computing Antitrust Inquiry

 WSJ, here (and here). 

Big Tech's Role in Contactless Payments: Analysis of Mobile Device Operating Systems and Tap-to-Pay Practices

 CFBP, here. 

Digital Platform Regulators Forum joint submission to Department of Industry, Science and Resources – Safe and responsible AI in Australia discussion paper

 Australian Goverment, here. 

WhatsApp beta for Android 2.23.19.8: what’s new?

 Webatinfo, here. 

The AI Act and General Purpose AI: Key Recommendations to inform EU's AI Act Negotiations regarding General Purpose AI

 Algorithmic Watch, here. 

6 REFLECTIONS ON THE RECENT DESIGNATION OF GATEKEEPERS UNDER THE DMA

 Copenhagen Economics, here. 

Q&A: Tim Wu on the U.S. v. Google Trial

 The American Prospect, here. 

Draft Merger Guidelines: Recommendations to Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission

 Open Markets  & Co., here. 

U.S. and Plaintiff States v. Google LLC [2020] - Trial Exhibits

 DOJ, here. 

Google Says Switching Away From Its Search Engine Is Easy. It’s Not.

 NYTimes, here. 

DIGITAL PLATFORM ECONOMICS: ESSAYS ON INNOVATION EFFECTS, ASSESSMENT OF MARKET POWER, AND POLICY APPROACHES TO PROMOTE COMPETITION

 T. Sousa Prado, here. 

What Should Merger Guidelines Do?

 Rethinking Antitrust, Podcast here. 

European Data Protection Supervisor, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, on GDPR 2.0 and the future of AI regulation

Global Counsel Podcast, here.  

EU Competition policy: Plus ça change…

 EC, here. 

Microsoft: I feel really good about our competitive position

 Semafor, here. 

White House could force cloud companies to disclose AI customers

 Semafor, here. 

The Tragedy of Google Search

 The Atlantic, here. 

Artificial Intelligence: Transparency

 AEPD, here. 

Mapping the landscape of data intermediaries

 JRC, here. 

Sustainability related aspects in EU merger control

 EC, here. 

Remarks by Commissioner Reynders on the Commission decision to prohibit the proposed acquisition of eTraveli by Booking

EC, here. 

FTC v. Amazon (I)

 Complaint, here. 

H7T @antitrustmemes 

Computational Power and AI

AINOW, here. 

Revising the Merger Guidelines To Return Antitrust to a Sound Economic and Legal Foundation

 J. Kwoka, here. 

Art. 102 AEUV und die Rolle der Ökonomie

 T. Rohner, hier. 

Order: Very large online platforms under the DSA (Amazon)

 General Court, here. 

The age of AI is a time for antitrust

 L. Lowe, here. 

Regulating the Risks of AI

 M. Kaminski, here. 

General Purpose AI Systems in the AI Act: trying to fit a square peg into a round hole

 C. Boine, D. Rolnick, here. 

Geoblocking of videogames and competition law: General Court confirms that Steam and videogame publishers breached Article 101 TFEU

 IPKitten, here. 

AI Foundation Models: Initial report

 CMA, here.

Digital Markets Act: Commission designates six gatekeepers

 EC, here. Q&A here. 

An Interdisciplinary Toolbox for Researching the AI-Act

 Verfassungsblog, here. 

Data Access And Re-Use In The European Legal Framework For Data, From The GDPR To The Proposed Data Act: The Case Of Vehicle Data

 LeADS, here. 

Blockchain: Guide for Trade Unionists 4.0

 Filcams, here. 

Big Tech's Role in Contactless Payments: Analysis of Mobile Device Operating Systems and Tap-to-Pay Practices

 CFPB, here. 

Where is Microsoft’s handheld Xbox?

 The Verge, here. 

«When AI systems are used, they are usually used for surveillance»

 Schweizermonat.ch, here. 

Innovation Misunderstood

 A. Ezrachi, M. Stucke, here. 

What the E.U.’s sweeping rules for Big Tech mean for your life online

 Washington Post, here. 

The governance of artificial intelligence: interim report

UK House of Commons, here and here.

More tools to combat market power, please

 M. Snoep, here. 

A market study exploring the level of competition in the segment for online payment transactions in the making

 EC, here. 

Generative AI: the US Copyright class action against OpenAI

 G. Campus, here. 

Setapp Planning to Launch Alternative App Store for iOS in Europe

 MacRumors, here. 

Competition Act: Final report and decision of online intermediation platforms market inquiry to be conducted

 CC South Africa, here. 

Regulator notifies Google of punishment for unfair practices in app market

The Korea Times, here.  

What Signal are the Draft Merger Guidelines Sending to Enforcers Elsewhere?

 C. Caffarra, here. 

One Act to Rule Them All: What Is At Stake In the AI Act Trilogue?

 Verfassungsblog, here. 

AI-generated art cannot be copyrighted, rules a US federal judge

 The Verge, here. 

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard restructure proposed acquisition and notify restructured transaction to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority

 Microsoft, here. 

The New Merger Guidelines Offer an Important Course Correction on Merger Enforcement

 H. Singer, here. 

EDPS Opinion 39/2023 on the Proposal for a Regulation on payment services in the internal market and the Proposal for a Directive on payment services and electronic money services in the Internal Market

 EDPS, here. 

Opinion 38/2023 on the Proposal for a Regulation on a framework for Financial Data Access

 EDPS, here. 

THE DIGITAL PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION ACT OF INDIA, EXPLAINED

 R. Roy, G. Zanfir-Fortuna, here. 

Commission boosts data sharing and innovation for a smart, sustainable and resilient EU tourism ecosystem

 EC, here. 

‘Ecosystem’ theories of harm in digital mergers: New insights from network economics

C. Caffarra et al., here.  

When tech says ‘no’

 B. Evans, here. 

The Rise of AI

 cirsd, here. 

Is it time to reboot welfare economics? Overview

 D. Coyle et al., here. 

Who Learns and Who Profits in the Era of Artificial Intelligence?

 C. Rikap, here. 

A New Contract for Artists in the Age of Generative AI

 Tech Policy Press, here. 

Open (For Business): Big Tech, Concentrated Power, and the Political Economy of Open AI

 D. Gray Widder et al., here

Contentious areas in the EU AI Act trilogues

 iapp, here. 

Google, Amazon, Nvidia, and others put $235 million into Hugging Face

 The Verge, here. 

FTC Secures Settlement with ICE and Black Knight Resolving Antitrust Concerns in Mortgage Technology Deal

FTC, here.  

Do We Collaborate With What We Design?

K. Evans, here.  

Americans Pay a Price for Corporate Consolidation

 NYTimes, here. 

OTNS: Is Code still Law? (Interview with Lawrence Lessig)

 The Blockchain Socialist, here. 

Horizontal intervention, sectoral challenges: Evaluating the data act's impact on agricultural data access puzzle in the emerging digital agriculture sector

 C. Atik, here. 

Google Chat adding voice messages and interoperability with Slack, Teams

 9To5Google, here. 

Microsoft to Unbundle Teams Software in Europe

 WSJ, here. 

The Mythology of Horizontal Merger Efficiencies

 M. Glick et al., here. 

The Digital Economy Is Broken—But It’s Not Too Late

 R. Erumi, A. Gurumurthy, here. 

Digital Services Act: Application of the risk management framework to Russian disinformation campaigns

 EC, here. 

Going Nuclear?

 D. Backovsky, J. Bryson, here. 

Carl Shapiro: How Would These Draft Guidelines Work in Practice?

 C. Shapiro, here. 

The Dynamic Competition Paradigm: Insights and Implications

 D. Teece, here. 

UK digital regulators discuss interagency enforcement, AI governance coordination

 iapp, here. 

ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT INCREASES ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

 T. Babina et al., here. 

OpenAI on copyright and Gen AI

 Here. 

New draft paper: ‘Compliance by design’ with the messenger interoperability obligation under the Digital Markets Act

 Me, comments much welcome, here. 

BTW, I'll resume posting "properly" next week. 

ONDC's Quick Takeoff Expected

 Video here. 

Position Statement of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition of 2 May 2023 on the Implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA)

 Here. 

What Are the Thoughts Behind the Changes? Draft DOJ-FTC Merger Guidelines Explained by DOJ DAAGs

 Our Curious Amalgam, here. 

Meta pledges to ask EU users for consent before showing behavioural ads

 noyb, here. 

Art 102 TFEU & Exclusionary Conduct – The Reform: Anne Witt, Gönenç Gürkaynak, Massimiliano Kadar

 Chez Oles, here. 

Although the New Merger Guidelines Should Be Applauded, There Is Still Room for Improvement

 D. Bush et al., here. 

Zero Trust AI Governance

 AINow, here. 

We Need Smart Intellectual Property Laws for Artificial Intelligence

 ScientificAmerican, here. 

Good Governance Is a Bad Idea

 K. Pistor, here. 

Exploring Antitrust and Platform Power in Generative AI

 K. Kollnig, Q. Li, here. 

Who Learns and Who Profits in the Era of Artificial Intelligence?

 BotPopuli, here. 

AI can be a force for good or ill in society, so everyone must shape it, not just the ‘tech guys’

 TheGuardian, here. 

Caro-voli, come funziona l’algoritmo che ha fatto scattare l’intervento del Governo

 Sole24Ore, here. 

Cinven (Luxo 1) S.a.r.l. and Others v Competition and Markets Authority

 CAT, here. 

FTC’s Shaoul Sussman on the Merger Guidelines

 Antitrust Vlog, here. 

US Leadership in Digital Platform Policy

 J. Bauer, here. 

Regulating competition in the digital network industry

 J. van den Boom, here. 

Ecosystem Theory of Harm

 Capitol Forum, here.

DOJ's Jonathan Kanter on the ‘Bidenomics’ Approach to Antitrust

 Odd Lots Podcast, here. 

Pierre Régibeau's Exit Interview...brought to you by CRA

 Concurrences, here. 

IETF-117 More Instant Messaging Interoperability

 Here.

Bauanleitung für plattformübergreifende Chats

 Netzpolitik, hier. 

The Relationship between Competition and Innovation (Part I)

 OECD Competition Policy Roundtable, here. 

How Biden Can Get Antitrust Right

 J. Furman and C. Shapiro on the WSJ, here (and here). 

Warner, Colleagues Reintroduce Bipartisan Legislation to Encourage Competition in Social Media

 Here. 

Meta apparently switches to consent for behavioral ads after five years of litigation

 Noyb, here. 

What Europe’s AI regulation moment will mean for the world

 360info, here. 

The AI rules that US policymakers are considering, explained

 Vox, here. 

Competition Between AI Foundation Models: Dynamics and Policy Recommendations

 T. Schrepel, A. Pentland, here. 

Saint Lina of the Competitive Markets

 WSJ, Video here. 

Statement Regarding Termination of CooperCompanies’ Attempted Acquisition of Cook Medical’s Reproductive Health Business

 FTC, here.

Meta says it will offer Europeans a free choice to deny tracking

 Natasha The Great, here. 

Chocolate and Antitrust

 

H/T 

@nmorenobelloso

Non-price effects of mergers and acquisitions

 J. Haucap, J. Stiebale, here. 

“Will AI Destroy Us?”: Roundtable with Coleman Hughes, Eliezer Yudkowsky, Gary Marcus, and me (+ GPT-4-enabled transcript!)

 Here. 

Why Meta is giving away its extremely powerful AI model

 S. Ghaffary, here. 

Advancing search engine studies: The evolution of Google critique and intervention

 A. Mager et al., here. 

Denied by Design? Data Access Rights in Encrypted Infrastructures

 M. Veale, here. 

Thresholds of Merger Notification: The Challenge of Digital Markets, the Turnover Lottery, and the Question of Re-interpreting Rules

 R. Podszun, here. 

Is America’s Merger Fever Breaking?

 S. Mitchell, R. Knox, here. 

The Next World System: Can US Trade Policy Make Us More Secure, Democratic, & Prosperous?

 Open Markets, Video here. 

Antitrust law examination of “Google News Showcase”

 Bundeskartellamt, here. 

The rise of conversational AI with the co-founder of Siri

 ZenDesk, Video  here. 

This California agency wants to know what happens to all that connected car data

 TechCrunch, here. 

Unpacking the 2023 Revised Merger Guidelines: A Conversation With the U.S. Department of Justice

 Ruled by reason, Podcast Episode here. 

Italy accepts data portability offer from Google to settle antitrust complaint

 Natasha The Great, here. 

Commission sends Statement of Objections to Pierre Cardin and its licensee Ahlers over distribution and licensing practices for clothing*

 EC, here. 

Consultation on the template relating to the reporting on consumer profiling techniques

 EC, Here.

After the Italian Competition Authority's intervention, Google's data portability easier

 Qui; here the DeepL translated decision.

History Suggests Economists Need To Think Precisely About Populism

 A. De Bromhead, K. O'Rourke, here.

What a tiny precedent could do...

 

70% Of Generative AI Startups Rely On Google Cloud, AI Capabilities

 Forbes, here. 

Digital clones made by AI tech could make Hollywood extras obsolete

 Washington Post, here. 

Analyzing the European Union AI Act: What Works, What Needs Improvement

 HAI, a look from the US..., here. 

The Opportunities & Threats of AI

 S. Galloway  & G. Marcus, Conversation here. 

The FTC Is Regulating AI: A Comprehensive Analysis

 HKLaw, here. 

The little search engine that couldn’t

 TheVerge, here. 

Biden Declares War on the Cult of Efficiency

 F. Foer, here. 

Amazon makes bid to settle UK antitrust probe into seller data, Buy Box and Prime

 Natasha The Great, here. 

Grave concerns’: FTC leader accuses Jim Jordan of intimidating her staff

 

Politico.com (not eu), here.

Antitrust girls and boys, remember Onavo?

 AU FedCourt, here. 

Hugging Face, GitHub and more unite to defend open source in EU AI legislation

 VentureBeat, here. 

Artificial intelligence: Development, risks and regulation

 UK Lords, here. 

Bundeskartellamt vs Meta: what now?

 Euractiv, here. 

AI AND GENERATIVE AI: TRILOGUE NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE AI ACT

 Beuc, here. 

A certain danger lurks there’: how the inventor of the first chatbot turned against AI

 The Guardian, here. 

Next-Generation Antitrust Policy in an AI-Driven World

 Me in ProMarket, here. 

Six years after "Competition by Design", here. 

Competition Policy Enforcement in a Dynamic World

 P. Régibeau, here. 

Link: The Incentives Balance Test in the EU Microsoft Case: A More 'Economics-Based' Approach? by Simonetta Vezzoso :: SSRN

The dirty little secret that could bring down Big Tech

 Insider, here. 

How to implement the DMA in order to attain its goals of contestability and fair digital markets for core platform services

 J. Hoffmann, here. 

President Joe Biden wanted Gigi Sohn to fix America’s internet — what went wrong?

 The Verge, here. 

Remarks by President Biden on Artificial Intelligence

 White House, here. 

What happens to competition when fewer startups go public?

 ProMarket, here. 

Meta can call Llama 2 open source as much as it likes, but that doesn't mean it is

 The Register, here. 

ON DIGITAL COMPETITION, BRITAIN COULD LEARN FROM ITS REGULATORY MISTAKES

 Z. Meyers (CER), here. 

UK Lords debate AI

 Here. 

CMA: Amazon / iRobot merger merger decision

 Here. 

Valuing Social Data

 A. Parsons, S. Viljoen, here. 

Is AI Bad for Humanity?

 Podcast with D. Acemoglu, here. 

Why We’re Updating the Government’s Merger Guidelines

 J. Kanter, L. Kahn, WSJ (of all places), here. 

"When markets are competitive and companies jostle to win business, everyone benefits. Consumers pay lower prices and get better service. Workers have more options to earn higher wages and get better working conditions. And we all benefit from the breakthrough innovations and diverse views that flourish when markets are open and the best ideas win.

More than a century ago, Congress set out to protect free and fair competition by passing antitrust laws. These laws prohibit mergers that may harm competition, while permitting those that don’t. As federal antitrust enforcers, we want our approach to be clear and predictable. Since 1968, our agencies have issued guidelines to explain how we assess whether mergers might hurt competition.

The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have updated the merger guidelines to reflect an evolving economy several times, under Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, Obama and Trump. We are continuing that tradition. Our proposed guidelines are faithful to the legal principles that have guided our enforcement efforts for generations. They recognize that firms can compete in a variety of ways and lay out the different ways that mergers may threaten competition.

The guidelines are written to be understood by businesses, consumers, entrepreneurs, workers and the broader public. We focused on three goals while drafting them.

First, as federal antitrust enforcers, we are bound by the antitrust laws as written by Congress and interpreted by the Supreme Court. The Clayton Act of 1914 prohibits any merger that may substantially reduce competition or tend to create a monopoly. Time and again since then—from expanding the Clayton Act to address a broader range of transactions to requiring that companies notify the government in advance of large mergers—Congress has closed loopholes and offered antitrust enforcers and private citizens more tools to stop anticompetitive mergers.

Recognizing Congress’s clear commands, more than a century of Supreme Court and appellate precedent makes clear that the antitrust laws protect the public from mergers that let dominant firms further control a market or create choke points in the economy. To ensure that our approach to merger review is faithful to the law, the proposed guidelines include—for the first time—legal citations to Supreme Court cases.

PHOTO: JOSE LUIS MAGANA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Second, enduring antitrust legal principles must be applied to today’s markets, reflecting how companies operate, compete and grow in the 21st century. To make sure we understand these changes, our proposed merger guidelines encompass the insights of modern analytical tools, taking into account market realities.

Third, we have written the draft guidelines with the broader public, not only antitrust experts, in mind. This makes it easier for businesses and individuals to understand the risk that a merger or acquisition may lead to an antitrust investigation and, where warranted, a lawsuit. But the proposed merger guidelines don’t create rights or responsibilities, nor are they substitutes for the law itself.

The proposed merger guidelines are the result of a public request for information issued in January 2022. We received more than 5,000 comments—from businesses, individuals, farmers, nurses, pharmacists, consumer advocates, worker organizations, antitrust practitioners, academics and trade associations. During four listening sessions, we heard about the effects of mergers and acquisitions on different sectors, which helped us understand how mergers can undermine open markets.

Our work isn’t done. We encourage the public to read the proposed merger guidelines and share its views at regulations.gov. The deadline to comment is Sept. 18. Our agencies will read and reflect on these comments before issuing final merger guidelines.

Congress tasked us with faithfully enforcing the antitrust laws to promote open, resilient markets. By updating the merger guidelines we hope to propel American ingenuity and ensure that the best ideas win.

Mind-reading machines are coming — how can we keep them in check?

 Nature, here. 

A law for foundation models: the EU AI Act can improve regulation for fairer competition

 K. Zenner, here. 

Antitrust Guidelines and Overthrowing a Corrupt Priesthood

 

M. Stoller, here. 

FIFA’s Football Agents Regulation Violates Competition Law

 T. Lichtenberg, here. 

An important step towards secure and interoperable messaging

 Google (no kidding), here. 

Deutscher Videokonferenzanbieter alfaview reicht Beschwerde bei EU-Kommission gegen Microsoft wegen Missbrauchs von Marktmacht ein

 alfaview, hier. 

Updated version of the Teramo Cloud Presentation

 Here. 

French draft law "Sécuriser et réguler l'espace numérique": cloud credits

 

Ici.

Amazon wehrt sich – jetzt ist der BGH am Zug

 WBS, hier. 

The Data Act trialogue agreement as formally approved

 Here. 

Microsoft and Meta expand their AI partnership with Llama 2 on Azure and Windows

 Microsoft, here. 

Ofcom cloud consultation: responses published

 Here (only 8)

Maximising the benefits of Generative AI for the digital economy

 DRCF, here. 

FTC/DOJ Draft Merger Guidelines

 Here. 

Public comments here. 

COMPETITION IN GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOUNDATION MODELS

 C. Carugati (Bruegel), here. 

A never ending saga?

 

Data Act: European Mobility Still Needs Sector-Specific Rules

 Euractiv, here. 

Effective protection against AI harms

 A. `Lawrence-Archer and R. Naik, here. 

Apple Launches Tap to Pay on iPhone in the UK

 MacRumors, here. 

Why they're smearing Lina Khan

 C. Doctorow, here. 

The Gatekeepers of Knowledge Don’t Want Us to See What They Know

 J. Angwin, here. 

« Charles River Associates s’est déclaré « fier » de la nomination de sa « consultante de haut niveau Fiona Scott Morton ». Faut-il s’en inquiéter ? »

 

You can bet they were also very proud of all their CRA consultants nominated for the latest so called Antitrust Writing Awards, here. 

Can A.I. Invent?

 New York Times, here. 

La CNMC multa a Apple y Amazon con 194 millones por restringir la competencia en la web de Amazon en España

 CNMC, aquì. 

EU Trilogues: The AI Act must protect people’s rights

 AccessNow, here. 

The EU Digital Markets Act: A One-of-a-kind Regulation

 A. Malheiro, here. 

Eine harm­lose Alien-Inva­sion

 LTO, hier. 

The General Court must rule once more on the lawfulness of the Commission’s prohibition of the acquisition of Telefónica Europe (‘O2’) by Hutchison 3G UK (‘Three’)

 CJEU, here. 

Adobe / Figma merger inquiry

 CMA (who else?), here. 

The future of data trusts and the global race to dominate AI

 A. Artyushina, here. 

The abuses of Popper

 Aeon, here. 

WhatsApp shifts legal basis for processing personal data in Europe

 Euractiv, here. 

Vertical Merger Scrutiny Needs an Upgrade After Microsoft-Activision

 L. Hepner, here. 

FTC's CID re OpenAI

 Here. 

Meta’s behavioral ads banned in Norway on Facebook and Instagram

 #NatashaTheGreat, here. 

Isaac Newton to AI

 SEC, here. 

Right to repair: EP Draft Report

 Here. 

Chrome für iOS: Google führt Web-Apps ein

 Heise.de, hier. 

Teslas neue Ladesäulen-Macht

 FAZ, hier. 

China to name Unicom CEO Liu as head of new data bureau

Reuters, here.  

Regulating AI in the UK

 Ada Lovelace Institute, here. 

The beauty and complexity of the antitrust policy mind

 

Gen AI & Market Power: What Role for Antitrust Regulators?

Amazing webinar, just ended. 

A couple of immediate reactions to what we heard. It appears everyone is still in research mode, which is perfectly acceptable. However, there's already some serious musing afoot, particularly from the cloud services sector perspective (Adlc here, an overview here, if I may). What Big Tech firms are up to is also quite obvious. Well, what's next?

Starting from the recognition that generative AI makes all much, much worse and much more difficult (Andreas Mundt, - 19a and the NCT could come very handy, of course), do we sit on our hands, awaiting one monopolist to be swapped out for "another" (best-case scenario, as suggested by Joshua Gans)? Do we carve out tiny oases of diversity, try to preserve those famous windows of opportunity, cherish those few cracks that might just open up and observe from the sidelines (Susan Athey)? Do we attempt to grab the bull by the horns, seeking to shift the direction of innovation (Daron Acemoglu, with suggestions on how to do so, from AI regulation to tax rules)? Or are we temped to surrender to a sense of discouragement (Tommaso Valletti - not alone)?

Update: The recording  is now available here, and Ian Brown has some in-depth tweets (yes, you also can) on the discussion, all unrolled here.  

Überprüfung einer Bestpreisklausel – Bundeskartellamt stellt Verfahren gegen Lieferando ein

 Bundeskartellamt, hier. 

("Anlass für das Verfahren war die Überprüfung einer Bestpreisklausel in den Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen (AGB) von Lieferando gegenüber Restaurants. Dieser zufolge müssen die auf Lieferando geforderten Preise den Preisen in den eigenen Vertriebskanälen der Restaurants entsprechen")

"That is what the DMA is all about."

 T. Breton, here. 

Innovation in the age of digital gatekeepers: It's complicated

 

Twitter blocks links to rival Threads

 TechCrunch, here. 

A very public, successful job interview, for a while.

 

Video, from 5:40:40. 

FSM "resigned", as you heard coming back to shore.

This is now for the archives: 

[BTW
-  her very clear position on interoperability is encouraging :) here;

- the Amazon/iRobot merger in-depth investigation following the Meta ruling is going to be very interesting (but can she say anything about it as former Amazon consultant? How many years ago was it?); 

- her Consultant's stance on cloud gaming being "a nascent technology that does not yet have a compelling use case" is hopefully correct;

- wondering if this roadmap could be of any use now;

- with addictive technologies aplenty, what has antitrust ever done for us? 

- Q: has there ever been an EU Chief Competition Economist who was not a CRA consultant? A: Yes!]]

Google to explore alternatives to robots.txt in wake of generative AI and other emerging technologies

 Search Engine Land, here. 

US Court denies FTC's bid for a preliminary injunction of Microsoft's Activision deal

 Opinion here.

Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0

 EC, Factsheet here;  Communication here; Information, insights and market trends on web 4.0 and virtual worlds here; Citizens’ panel report on virtual worlds here. 

The UK Facebook/Giphy Case: Taking Dynamic Competition Seriously

 M. Walker, here. 

Dynamic Competition, Digital Ecosystems, and Competition Policy

 W. Kerber, here. 

Bundeskartellamt: Jahresbericht 2022/23

 Digitalwirtschaft, hier. 

Review of the Digital Markets, Consumer and Competition Bill

 UK Parliament, here (oral evidence). 

CMA Video, from 14:29:20 

Potential addressees 20 June 2023 - Review of the Digital Markets, Consumer and Competition Bill - Oral evidence - Committees - UK Parliamentideo  Parliamentlive.tv - Communications and Digital Committee

Furman, Marsden; Fletcher Parliamentlive.tv - Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

.

(Over)simplifying the "AI control" debate?

"Opening up isn’t altruistic – Meta believes it’s in *her* best interest", writes the Head of Global Affairs at Meta in the FT. Barricading what might have been open was the key to digging digital moats and flexing market power muscles. Before succumbing to the rather misleading term "contestability", in the discussions on the DMA the focus was precisely on "openness and fairness". That's how Big Tech has played the digital competition game. And what does the future hold? 

Waiting to read Meredith Whittaker & Co-authors on this. 

Data brokers: Issues Paper

 ACCC, here. 

Commission opens in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition of iRobot by Amazon

 EC, here. More, from #NatashaTheGreat here.

La CNMC sanciona el cártel de dos de las principales empresas de servicios de bases de datos de información empresarial en España

 Aquì. 

Sharing a slightly modified version of a recent presentation on vertical restraints in the digital economy

 

Here. 

Sharing a slightly modified version of a recent presentation on the DMA

 Here. 

What Can Policymakers Do About Algorithmic Collusion and Discrimination?

 M. Stucke, here. 

CJEU ruling on Meta referral could close the chapter on surveillance capitalism

 Natasha The Great, here. 

How do we keep up with the pace of AI development?

 WEF, here. 

The Ninth Circuit’s Grave Mistake in Epic v. Apple

M.Glick, here.  

FTC Files Amicus Brief to Clarify Antitrust Standards Involving Exclusive-Dealing and Bundling Arrangements

 Here.

Meta v. Bundeskartellamt

  Case C‑252/21, here. 

Samsung may face tighter scrutiny under new EU rules

 KoreaHerald, here. 

Implementing the DMA: The role of behavioural insights

 A. Fletcher, Z. Vasas, here. 

Enforcing the DMA is Easier Said Than Done: Evidence From the Commission’s Draft Template for DMA Compliance Reports

 TruthOnTheMarket, here. 

Generative AI’s secret sauce — data scraping— comes under attack

 VentureBeat, here. 

Tesla and Chinese EV Giants: short lived price collusion

In a display of the finest irony, 16 automakers in China, including industry powerhouses like Tesla and BYD, last week committed to a pledge of fair competition and "normal" pricing, only to retract during the weekend as somebody finally realized that it contradicted China's anti-monopoly laws. EV-edition, here. 

Jumpstarting AI Governance

 

G. Marcus, here. 

The FTC’s biggest AI enforcement tool? Forcing companies to delete their algorithms

Model deletion, while not new, has seen increased use as a deterrent. It hits at the core of a company's business model, rather than simply imposing fines, which can be seen as mere slaps on the wrist for big tech companies. Cyberscoop, here. 

UK Approach to LLMs: Call for evidence

The Committee is seeking evidence on several topics, including future trends of LLMs, associated opportunities and risks, domestic regulation, the adequacy of the UK’s regulatory capacity, possible non-regulatory and regulatory options, and comparisons with international approaches. UK Parliament, here. 

ANTITRUST SUPER TUESDAY

 D-Kart, here. 

A Chinese DMA?

Yesterday, I had the pleasure to teach a 90-minute class on the DMA for Chinese competition officials. Despite a) being just after lunch b) enticing weather outside c) lovely but consecutive interpretation slowing down things a lot, I enjoyed the opportunity to provide an overview of this amazing ;-) regulatory tool. I think they felt my enthousiasm (but I very much doubt they directly shared it) and there were some interesting, intriguing questions. Let‘s wait and see…

Democracy in the digital age

 UC, EGE, here. 

Webinar and launch of a new report on generative artificial intelligence

 Forbrukerradet, here. 

Commission seeks feedback on commitments offered by Renfe over possible anticompetitive practices in online rail ticketing in Spain

 EC, here. 

Article 3 of Regulation 1/2003: a historical and empirical account of an unworkable compromise

 O. Brook, M. Eben, here. Further discussions chez Oles here. 

GOOGLE СHALLENGES NCLAT ORDER IN AN ANTITRUST CASE

 BricsCompetition, here.

Metaverse

 Study for the JURI Committee, here. 

CPDP 2023

 Videos, here. 

Expert explainer: Allocating accountability in AI supply chains

 Dear Ian for the Ada Lovelace Institute, here. 

Lina Khan Is Coming for Amazon, Armed With an FTC Antitrust Suit

 Bloomberg, here. 

It'd be lovely to write an update of this, if the occasion presents itself.

Diane Coyle, an economist's (and former journalist's) life dedicated to the digital economy

 Podcast, here. 

Design software deal could harm UK digital economy

 CMA, who else? Here. 

A Big Tech Disassembly Manual

 C. Doctorow, here. 

The True Threat of Artificial Intelligence

 NYTimes, here. 

AMNC23: How do we keep up with the pace of AI development?

 Here.

AI Act: 'four-column document' (waiting for the empty column to be filled, wisely)

 Here.