AI Monopoly Risks Prompt US Antitrust Chief to Start Investigation
US Antitrust Enforcer Jonathan Kanter stressed the need for regulators to thoroughly examine the AI sector “with urgency” to prevent potential monopolies.
In a Financial Times report, Kanter said that he was examining “monopoly choke points and the competitive landscape” in AI.
These choke points encompass computing power, data used to train large language models (LLMs), cloud service providers, engineering talent, and hardware.
Kanter called on the AI sector for urgent action to ensure that current dominant technology firms do not attain sole market control. He expressed regulators’ concern that AI is “at the high-water mark of competition, not the floor.”
Kanter claims real-time intervention may be the most meaningful. “The beauty of that is you can be less invasive,” he added.
Kanter highlighted that the graphics processing units (GPUs) have become a “scarce resource,” Predominantly used in AI to train LLMs.
Nvidia currently dominates sales of the most advanced GPUs. On May 23, Nvidia released its first-quarter earnings report, showing that its revenue surged 262% from a year ago.
After the report’s release, the company’s stock prices surged to a new all-time high of $1,007, sending its valuation above $2.5 trillion.
Kanter highlighted existing government initiatives to boost production, noting the 2022 Chips and Science Act, which provides $39 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturing in the US.
However, he added that antitrust regulators were looking at how chipmakers decide to allocate their most advanced products amid rampant demand.
He warned that if decisions prioritize competitive consequences over profitability and shareholder value, it would lead to an AI monopoly.
“One of the things to think through is conflict of
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