TECH NEWS – The CMA’s scrapping of the Microsoft deal is now being investigated for “competition and consumer protection considerations” in artificial intelligence models.

Last week, the UK Competition and Markets Authority announced that it was launching a review into artificial intelligence models to ensure that “AI continues in a way that benefits consumers, businesses, and the UK economy.” This is, of course, the same CMA that blocked the $69 billion Microsoft-acquisition of Activision two weeks ago.

Now it wants to conduct a valuation that “best guides the development of foundation models and their use in the future”. According to the regulator, the review will focus on the impact of developing basic AI models (also known as GPT-3 or DALL-E 2, AI trained on huge data sets and capable of multiple uses).

The UK government has asked regulators to “think about how the innovative development and deployment of AI can be supported against five overarching principles.”

 

These five principles are:

• Safety, security, and robustness
• Appropriate transparency and explainability
• Fairness
• Accountability and governance
• Contestability and redress

According to the CMA’s announcement, the review will focus on three themes. These are the development of basic models of artificial intelligence. Also, the impact of the basic models on other markets and consumer protection.

In the press release, Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA, said that artificial intelligence “has the potential to transform the way businesses compete as well as drive substantial economic growth.” She stressed that AI technology should remain readily accessible to UK citizens and businesses while still protecting them from “false and misleading information.”

The CMA is seeking evidence from stakeholders. It wants submissions by 2 June. The CMA will publish a report on its findings in September. The outcome of these reports is likely to have an impact on future legislation relating to the development and use of AI in the UK.

Source: Gov.uk