Senate leaders ask FTC to investigate AI content summaries as anti-competitive

A group of Democratic senators is urging nan FTC and Justice Department to analyse whether AI devices that summarize and regurgitate online contented for illustration news and recipes whitethorn magnitude to anticompetitive practices.

In a missive to nan agencies, nan senators, led by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), explained their position that nan latest AI features are hitting creators and publishers while they’re down.

As journalistic outlets acquisition unprecedented consolidation and layoffs, “dominant online platforms, specified arsenic Google and Meta, make billions of dollars per twelvemonth successful advertizing gross from news and different original contented created by others. New generative AI features frighten to exacerbate these problems.”

The missive continues:

While a accepted hunt consequence aliases news provender links whitethorn lead users to nan publisher’s website, an AI-generated summary keeps nan users connected nan original hunt platform, wherever that level unsocial tin profit from nan user’s attraction done advertizing and information collection. […] Moreover, immoderate generative AI features misappropriate third-party contented and walk it disconnected arsenic caller contented generated by nan platform’s AI.

Publishers who wish to debar having their contented summarized successful nan shape of AI-generated hunt results tin only do truthful if they opt retired of being indexed for hunt completely, which would consequence successful a materially important driblet successful referral traffic. In short, these devices whitethorn pit contented creators against themselves without immoderate recourse to profit from AI-generated contented that was composed utilizing their original content. This raises important competitory concerns successful nan online marketplace for contented and advertizing revenues.

Essentially, nan senators are saying that a fistful of awesome companies power nan marketplace for monetizing original contented via advertising, and that those companies are rigging that marketplace successful their favor. Either you consent to having your articles, recipes, stories, and podcast transcripts indexed and utilized arsenic earthy worldly for an AI, aliases you’re trim retired of nan loop.

The missive goes connected to inquire nan FTC and DOJ to analyse whether these caller methods are “a shape of exclusionary behaviour aliases an unfair method of title successful usurpation of nan antitrust laws.”

Though it’s intelligibly a superior rumor — and 1 that affects this outlet — nan FTC whitethorn person its activity trim retired for it here. While AI summaries of web contented whitethorn supply highly lopsided benefits, location are galore powerfulness relationships successful play successful business and media, and nan barroom for anticompetitive behaviour is rather high.

For instance, successful this case, it would person to beryllium shown that nan AI makers person overwhelming marketplace powerfulness and that they are utilizing that powerfulness successful ways specifically forbidden by law. Something tin beryllium unfair, unethical, and perfectly legal.

Considering really hawkish nan FTC is connected these matters already, however, it’s apt that Sen. Klobuchar and her colleagues are preaching to nan choir arsenic a prelude to taking action of their own. Klobuchar herself, watching retired for publicity and section papers especially, introduced a measure past twelvemonth aimed to empowering nan proviso broadside of news licensing negotiations and giving news outlets a spot much clout erstwhile asking Google aliases whoever to salary for their content.

Fast-forward a twelvemonth and nan concerns of 2022 and early 2023 look quaint: The aforesaid companies accused of strong-arming contented providers are now, galore argue, circumventing nan full marketplace by feeding nan contented to nan AI for summaries.

Asking nan regulators to return a plaything astatine an industry’s undesirable behaviors is portion of a insubstantial way that legislators time off erstwhile trying to make a law. If nan FTC and DOJ find they can’t act, it clears nan signatories of this missive to propose a caller rule truthful that those agencies tin act. While past year’s save-the-papers measure didn’t spell far, a caller 1 tied to fears astir AI overlords mightiness do amended — surely it’s a bully talking constituent for nan predetermination cycle.

The missive was co-signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Tina Smith (D-MN).