The FTC Chair calls for regulating AI, saying the tech could fuel market dominance and collusion by large firms, increase fraud and discrimination, and more
Khan’s AI concerns extend the FTC’s earlier focus on dominant intermediaries and suspect mergers into a market where scale in data, computing and distribution can shape competition. The significance is that the agency is framing AI as both an antitrust and consumer-protection issue, rather than treating it as a standalone technology policy question.
Later coverage reinforces that direction: the FTC moved toward liability for harmful AI impersonation through its proposed impersonation rules, while antitrust officials broadened attention to AI, cloud, data and GPUs as possible competitive choke points.
First-order effects
The speech puts AI developers and large platform firms on notice that the FTC may assess AI-related conduct through competition, fraud and discrimination authorities, not only through future AI-specific rules.
It gives the FTC a public rationale to prioritize investigations and enforcement theories involving AI-enabled coordination, deceptive uses and discriminatory outcomes.
Second-order effects
Large firms will face stronger incentives to document how AI systems are governed and how partnerships, data access and distribution arrangements affect competition; smaller developers may face corresponding diligence demands from customers and investors.
The FTC’s framing increases pressure for AI governance proposals to address market power alongside safety and consumer harms, rather than focusing solely on model behavior.
Third-order effects
If agencies sustain this approach, AI governance could evolve into a combined competition-and-consumer-protection regime in which control of infrastructure, data and distribution is as consequential as model outputs.
The durability of that shift remains uncertain: it depends on the FTC’s ability to translate broad warnings into rules or legally durable cases amid scrutiny of its litigation strategy.
The trend: AI oversight is converging with antitrust enforcement as regulators treat concentrated control of the AI stack and AI-enabled consumer harms as connected policy problems.
Media is an extremely difficult business model. And I respect that Khan wants to speak through the paper of record. But since this is important writing from a current US official, here's a reminder that viewing links via archive.is gets you around most paywalls. …
This interview with Geoffrey Hinton is truly 😱 It's “quite conceivable that humanity is just a passing phase in the evolution of intelligence” and “it may keep us around for a while to keep the power stations running, but after that, maybe not” https://www.technologyreview.com/ .…
Lina Khan: We Must Regulate A.I. Here's How. https://www.nytimes.com/... // But how? Piece doesn't say. Also perhaps big tech should stop asking to be regulated (generally) though maybe suggest how so this back and forth can be concrete/cards on table.
Market concentration is a particularly odd thing to worry about when the two most impressive consumer-facing AI services, ChatGPT and Midjourney, are from firms that have no incumbency prior to this. ChatGPT is the fastest-growing consumer app ever, with zero prior customer base.
Many problems with tech stem from this still being a radical thing to say: “Although these tools are novel, they are not exempt from existing rules, and the FTC will vigorously enforce the laws we are charged with administering, even in this new market.” https://www.nytimes.com/.…
A few initial thoughts on @linakhanFTC's recent @nytimes op-ed on AI regulation. In the article, she highlights several points of emphasis, below are my thoughts on each:🧵https://www.nytimes.com/ ...
When potential algorithmic collusion by Big Bowling is the worst conceivable example, you know regulators are grasping at straws trying to justify sweeping regulation of AI https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
In case you are wondering: I have no doubt that superhuman AI systems will eventually exist. But today they don't, and we don't even have a basic design for them. So discussing how to make them safe is a bit like discussing how to make transatlantic flights safe in 1920.
There's a comical worldview held by many in punditry and political circles that our “data” is like expensive watches or jewelry locked in safes and is now being stolen by companies like FB They couldn't care less about whether you personally are into Succession or poop memes http…
Background: Lina Khan (FTC Chairperson) is throwing everything she can at “Big Tech” under the guise of protecting competition and giving small companies a level playing field where they are able to innovate and compete with big tech companies. ... 🧵 https://twitter.com/...
“The trajectory of the Web 2.0 era was not inevitable,” @linakhanFTC writes. It was shaped by policy choices. “As the use of AI becomes more widespread, public officials have a responsibility to ensure this hard-learned history doesn't repeat itself.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Generative AI is turbocharging fraud, accelerating disinformation, and enabling discrimination. @LinaKhanFTC writes in the @nytimes how the @FTC is committed to upholding existing rules to rein in AI and promote fair and open competition. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Many calls to regulate AI dwell on risks that we can deal with as they arise, like misinfo, or risks that are contradicted by experience, like market concentration, while ignoring the risks of weaponisation that we may not be able to fix after the fact. https://www.nytimes.com/..…
“It may not be ready to replace professional writers, but it can already do a vastly better job of crafting a seemingly authentic message than your average con artist.” Which coupled with pervasive user data collection is good enough for ad targeting. https://www.nytimes.com/...
Although AI tools are novel, they are not exempt from existing rules. In @nytimes I explain how @FTC will pursue our mandate to promote fair competition and prevent unfair or deceptive practices in this new market. https://www.nytimes.com/...
While Yudkowsky is warning us about AI killing everyone, Lina Khan suggests that the AI era could be as chaotic as having social media companies sell ads based on personal data. LMAO. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...