On September 18, four companies at the frontier of artificial intelligence (AI) – Anthropic, OpenAI, SpaceX AI, and Google – were sued in federal court over their coordination regarding development of AI. In a new insight, Director of Competition Policy Fred Ashton questions the merits of a possible antitrust exemption.

Key points:

• The involved AI firms were sued for allegedly agreeing to slow the pace of AI development in violation of federal antitrust law.
• The lawsuit, brought by a class of four paid subscribers, alleges a horizonal agreement stemming from an industry proposal calling for “industry-wide coordination” to slow down development and create safety limits amid the industry’s rapid development of AI capabilities.
• With safety at top of mind and industry moving at breakneck speed, Congress should reject calls for an antitrust exemption; AI firms can create voluntary safety standards and engage in procompetitive collaborations under existing law without slowing product development.

Read the analysis.