Britain’s competition watchdog has warned it has “real concerns” around the development and adoption of artificial intelligence in UK markets.
Given just a few firms control the development of such foundation models, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) argued on Thursday that companies could exploit their market dominance.
Alphabet Inc’s Google, Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc and chipmaker NVIDIA Corp were the companies mentioned by the CMA in a research paper.
“When we started this work, we were curious,” the authority’s chief executive, Sarah Cardell, commented.
“Now, with a deeper understanding and having watched developments very closely, we have real concerns.”
Such firms’ ability to restrict access to AI models, distort related services and form partnerships to narrow competition were all highlighted.
“The essential challenge we face is how to harness this immensely exciting technology for the benefit of all, while safeguarding against potential exploitation of market power and unintended consequences,” Cardell added.
Regulators are “keeping a very close watch” on emerging partnerships as a result, the CMA said, with a finalised set of principles due to be released over the coming week.