Several Democratic senators signed a letter this week pressing the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to investigate whether some artificial intelligence products break antitrust laws.
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar and seven other Democratic senators signed a letter to FTC Chairwoman Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter on Tuesday that urged the two departments to probe possible antitrust violations made by AI companies.
“Recently, multiple dominant online platforms have introduced new generative AI features that answer user queries by summarizing or, in some cases, merely regurgitating online content from other sources or platforms,” the letter reads. “The introduction of these new generative AI features further threatens the ability of journalists and other content creators to earn compensation for their vital work.”
Recently, search platforms like Google have implemented AI-powered summaries in response to user queries. According to the senators, this practice steals content from journalists and content creators and pushes copyrighted content further down on the page.
“While a traditional search result or news feed links may lead users to the publisher’s website, an AI-generated summary keeps the users on the original search platform, where that platform alone can profit from the user’s attention through advertising and data collection,” the letter continues.
The senators concluded the letter by urging the DOJ and FTC to investigate AI-powered search summaries to determine whether they’re “exclusionary conduct” or violate antitrust laws.
Since their introduction, AI developers have drawn criticism from journalists and other online creators for training their AI products on proprietary writing. Some AI companies, like Sam Altman’s OpenAI, have said AI can’t develop without using copyrighted material.
Outlets like The Atlantic, Vox and The Associated Press have inked contracts with OpenAI this year to let the company train its models on copyrighted material for a fee.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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