CMA to review the impact of the growing use of AI

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is to review how the development and deployment of AI by businesses could impact on competition and consumer protections.

Foundation models, which include large language models and generative artificial intelligence (AI), that have emerged over the past five years, have the potential to transform much of what people and businesses do. Following the publication of a recent government white paper into the use of AI, the CMA review will consider how the technology can be supported against the government’s five principles for AI regulation: safety, security and robustness; appropriate transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress.

The CMA will produce an assessment of the conditions and principles that will best guide the development of foundation models and their use in the future and address the implications AI could have for competition and consumer protections. This initial review will:

• examine how the competitive markets for foundation models and their use could evolve
• explore what opportunities and risks these scenarios could bring for competition and consumer protection
• produce guiding principles to support competition and protect consumers as AI foundation models develop

Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, explained:

“AI has burst into the public consciousness over the past few months but has been on our radar for some time. It’s a technology developing at speed and has the potential to transform the way businesses compete as well as drive substantial economic growth.

“It’s crucial that the potential benefits of this transformative technology are readily accessible to UK businesses and consumers while people remain protected from issues like false or misleading information. Our goal is to help this new, rapidly scaling technology develop in ways that ensure open, competitive markets and effective consumer protection.”

The CMA is seeking views and evidence from stakeholders and welcomes submissions by 2 June 2023 and encourages interested parties to respond and be proactive in identifying relevant evidence.

Following evidence gathering and analysis, the CMA will publish a report which sets out its findings in September 2023.