CCI plans to check abuse in AI space

NEW DELHI: The Competition Commission of India is preparing to act against anti-competitive practices that may emerge in the artificial intelligence space, chairperson Ravneet Kaur said on Monday.

She said the regulator is also closely monitoring antitrust concerns in sectors including sports, civil aviation, paints & varnishes and liquor.

CCI has begun identifying potential anti-competitive conduct across the AI value chain, she said. “It could be algorithmic collusion, targeted price discrimination, self-preferencing, or any opaqueness in the AI,” Kaur said.


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As an initial step, the watchdog has issued a guidance note encouraging stakeholders—including boards, management teams and decision-makers—to conduct selfaudits of their AI systems to ensure that “at the stage of development, deployment and monitoring of those Al applications there aren't any hidden anti-competitive outcomes".

Kaur was speaking at the 11th National Conference on Economics of Competition Law organised by the regulator in the national capital.

A market study on AI and competition, commissioned by the CCI last year, also recommended that enterprises conduct self-audits of their AI systems to address potential competition concerns.

The study noted that AI could have both positive and negative effects on competition.

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"Based on the perception survey of AI startups, the possibility of AI facilitated collusion, price discrimination and predatory pricing was expressed by 37%, 32% and 22% of respondents, respectively," the study had said.

Kaur also said the regulator had disposed of 1,211 of the 1,360 antitrust matters it has received. On merger reviews, she said the commission adopts a proactive, systematic and consistent approach.

“The approach followed by the commission is solution-oriented—we won’t block a merger, and only look at voluntary modifications," she said.