US antitrust enforcer says generative AI 'raises competition concerns'

Generative AI, which is best known for ChatGPT, raises competition concerns and is a focus of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Technology along with its Office of Technology, the agency said in a blog post by the staff of the two offices.

"Generative AI depends on a set of necessary inputs. If a single company or a handful of firms control one or several of these essential inputs, they may be able to leverage their control to dampen or distort competition in generative AI markets," the staff said in the blog post.

The post identified the inputs as big datasets when the technology is being developed, a well-trained engineering and research workforce, and computational power with specialized chips like graphical processing units.


"The FTC’s Bureau of Competition, working closely with the Office of Technology, is focused on ensuring open and fair competition, including at key inflection points as technologies develop. Generative AI represents one of these paradigm shifts," the staff of the offices said.