AI opinion: the Autorité de la concurrence at the forefront
Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, generative AI has emerged as a key technology, raising significant competition concerns. There is a risk of certain anticompetitive practices that have already been observed in the digital sector re-emerging, such as tied selling, self-preferencing or data access restrictions.
In February 2024, the Autorité de la concurrence decided to start inquiries ex officio and launched a public consultation to analyse market dynamics and the practices of the major platforms. Three major concerns emerged: the concentration of resources (cloud, data and talent), barriers to entry for new players, and strategic partnerships that risk foreclosing the sector.
The Autorité recommended greater transparency, better access to critical infrastructure, balanced data management, and the targeted use of competition law tools to preserv an innovative and open ecosystem (Opinion 24-A-05 of 28 June 2024).
The emergence of new players like DeepSeek is good news, showing that different technological avenues are open and that an endless race for size creating high barriers to entry is not a foregone conclusion. However, this should not be an excuse for inaction. When a market has irreversibly tipped around a few players, it is too late to intervene. The Autorité therefore emphasises the importance of guaranteeing a diversity of models adapted to different use cases to maximise the social and economic impact of AI (Intervention by Benoît Coeuré at the AI Action Summit Business Day at Station F in Paris on “Enabling competition, supporting innovation: the optimal ecosystem for AI Companies”, 11 February 2025).
Related rights and AI: a crucial issue
The impact of AI on competition can also be seen in the area of related rights. The Autorité fined Google €250 million for non-compliance with its commitments. It was found during the investigation that its “Bard” chatbot (renamed “Gemini”) had used press content to train its AI model, without informing press agencies and publishers in advance. Furthermore, Google did not offer publishers the possibility of opting out of this use of their content without affecting their visibility on its other services.
This case highlights the need for regulation adapted to new digital practices. The Autorité has stressed the importance of guaranteeing publishers and content creators fair remuneration and control over the use of their works by AI systems (Decision 24-D-03 of 15 March 2024).
An internationally coordinated approach
The competitive challenges of AI transcend national borders. In October 2024, at the G7 Competition Summit in Rome, antitrust authorities and policymakers adopted a “Digital Competition Communiqué”, establishing a common approach to ensuring fair competition in the face of the risks of domination in the AI sector (Digital Competition Communiqué, Rome, 4 October 2024).
The Autorité de la concurrence is actively involved in international discussions to ensure consistent and effective regulation in the face of the digital giants. In March 2024, it also took part in the first International Competition Network (ICN) Technology Forum, alongside more than 20 agencies, to discuss how tostrengthen technological skills within investigations, improve the detection of illicit practices and foster international cooperation between experts (See ICN statement on building agencies’ digital capacity).
AI, competition and data protection
AI regulation also raises data protection issues. On 5 March 2025, the Autorité de la concurrence and the French data protection authority (Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés – CNIL) held a joint seminar to explore the links between competition and personal data. The discussions examined the new issues raised by the digital transformation of the economy and the importance of data in new business models, in particular large-scale platforms.
The seminar followed on from the joint declaration signed by the two institutions on 12 December 2023 and reaffirmed their ambition to cooperate closely to foster trusted AI systems that are beneficial to citizens and the French economy, in the wake of the entry into force of the European AI Act (Joint press release of 20 March 2025).
The generative AI industry has the potential to become the antitrust museum of horrors if left unchecked.
Benoît Cœuré, President of the Autorité de la concurrence Le Figaro, 28 June 2024
AI AND ENERGY
In 2025, following on from its opinion on generative AI, the Autorité de la concurrence will pay particular attention to emerging issues relating to AI and energy. The Autorité will look at the competition issues associated with the specific energy requirements of AI, as well as the impact of models that use fewer resources (reduced computing power, number of parameters, etc.), potentially reducing certain barriers to entry, encouraging the emergence of new players, and fostering the development of competition between players on this parameter.
