UK competition watchdog launches review of AI market
The UK competition watchdog has launched a review of the artificial intelligence market, as it warned of threats from AI tools including the distribution of false or misleading information.
In an announcement that comes as global regulators increase scrutiny of the technology, the Competition and Markets Authority said it would look at the underlying systems, or foundation models, behind AI tools such as ChatGPT.
In the US, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, has invited the chief executives of the leading AI firms ChatGPT, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet to the White House on Thursday to discuss how to deal with the safety concerns around the technology.
The Federal Trade Commission, which oversees competition in the US, said this week it was “focusing intensely on how companies may choose to use AI technology, including new generative AI tools, in ways that can have actual and substantial impact on consumers”, while the Italian data watchdog lifted a temporary ban on ChatGPT last week after OpenAI addressed concerns over data use and privacy.
It comes in a week during which hundreds of millions of pounds were wiped from the share price of the UK education company Pearson, after Chegg, a US provider of online help to students for writing and maths assignments, revised its financial forecasts and warned ChatGPT was affecting customer growth.
The CMA said the technology, including the large language models that underpin chatbots such as ChatGPT and generative AI tools including Stable Diffusion, had the potential to transform much of what people and businesses do.
The CMA chief executive, Sarah Cardell, said the benefits of AI should be made available to UK businesses and consumers but warned that people must be protected
Read more on theguardian.com
