Artificially intelligent collusion caught under EU competition law
Jan Blockx · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · 2023
If businesses use artificial intelligence to track and determine prices, new possibilities for tacit collusion may arise. Although artificial intelligence does not have a human mind, such collusion remains punishable under EU competition law. The case law of the CJEU demonstrates that Article 101 TFEU applies in the absence of any meeting of minds in any literal sense, and that receipt of commercially sensitive information from a competitor may suffice. According to this case law, anticompetitive intent is not required to establish an anticompetitive agreement, though it is useful in interpreting ambiguous conduct. Finally, even if developers and users of artificial intelligence did not intend to engage in illegal behaviour, they may be held liable for the actions of their algorithms.