Forward

Political antitrust is back. Competition enforcement is facing renewed political pressure, centred on the pursuit of “national champions.” In this context, competition policy is becoming progressively entangled with trade strategy, industrial ambition, and geopolitical rivalry.

Competition authorities are adapting their priorities and policies accordingly, particularly in merger control and state aid. As the international rule-based order weakens, the pressure to deploy competition tools in support of national objectives is likely to intensify.

At the same time, Artificial Intelligence (AI) remains a central enforcement priority worldwide. AI is reshaping market dynamics and structures across several digital markets.

In general search, AI is accelerating the transition from traditional search engines to answer engines. Although the answer engine market is still nascent, the Digital Markets Act is already influencing competitive dynamics. It requires the Commission to clarify access and self-preferencing rules while ensuring regulatory coherence—especially with intellectual property frameworks—to preserve effective competition in emerging answer engine markets. (I have recently written a report on this topic and would be pleased to present it to competition authorities, firms, and law firms.)

In e-commerce, the sector is evolving towards agentic commerce. AI agents capable of performing tasks on behalf of users, such as purchasing goods, are driving this transformation. Competition remains dynamic, but existing competition rules were designed primarily for human conduct rather than autonomous-agent behaviour. This raises complex questions for authorities seeking to address practices designed and executed by AI systems.

My current research focuses on AI agents, the competitive impact of AI in digital markets, reviews under the Digital Markets Act, cloud computing services, and the growing phenomenon of political antitrust. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss these or related digital and competition issues. I will be in London from 16 to 21 March and would be delighted to meet in person during that period. Feel free to contact me to set a meeting.

My Work

Training: AI Agents and Competition

The AI agents and Competition Training delves into the competition implications of AI agents, both upstream and downstream, to help tech firms, law firms, and economic consulting firms build the expertise needed to navigate these emerging challenges. The training

Opinion: "Build with Europe" is the Path Forward to Competitiveness and Digital Sovereignty

“Build with Europe” is “Buy European” enhanced with free trade, a strategy that promotes European competitiveness while strengthening digital sovereignty. The opinion

Submission: Submission to the French Competition Authority on Conversational Agents and Agentic Commerce

Conversational agents and agentic commerce are still nascent. Competition is dynamic and strong, with frequent innovation and market entry, but current competition law is designed for human, not autonomous-agent, conduct. The submission

Opinion: Political Antitrust is Back

Competition enforcement faces political interference more than ever. Politicians should leave antitrust to the experts. The opinion

Report: Preserving Competition in Answer Engines Under the Digital Markets Act

Answer engines are the evolution of general search. In Europe, the Digital Markets Act shapes this competition and requires the Commission to clarify access and self-preferencing rules while ensuring regulatory consistency. The report

Opinion: Europe Should Learn from Britain and Japan on Tech Regulation

Britain and Japan show that predictability and legal certainty are compatible with robust rules of law in tech regulation. Europe should follow their lead. The opinion

Analysis: Why Does France Study Conversational Agents and Agentic Commerce?

Conversational agents and agentic commerce reshape the economics of the web and e-commerce. The French competition authority should assess regulatory impacts and the analytical framework on AI and digital markets. The analysis

News

Generative AI

OpenAI investments and partnerships

OpenAI has announced new multi-billion-dollar investments and strategic partnerships aimed at strengthening the development and deployment of its AI models.

The partnership with Amazon is particularly noteworthy from a competition perspective (disclaimer: I am not involved in the transaction). It provides OpenAI with access to the cloud infrastructure and chips necessary to train and deploy its models, while enabling Amazon to expand and reinforce its cloud services offering.

Although no AI partnership was formally reviewed last year, AI remains a clear enforcement priority worldwide. OpenAI. OpenAI-Amazon partnership

AI as a priority of the Belgian competition authority

AI is among the Belgian competition authority's top priorities this year. The authority has indicated that it will focus in particular on the competition implications of AI and pricing algorithms. The priority

Portuguese competition authority releases a discussion paper on chips

Following a market study on AI and three discussion papers on data, models, and AI labour markets, the Portuguese competition authority has issued a new discussion paper dedicated to chips. The paper identifies potential competition concerns linked to structural concentration and vertical integration in chip markets. The paper

UK CMA blogpost on AI and algorithmic collusion

Competition authorities have long monitored the risks of algorithmic collusion. In a recent blogpost, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) outlines the benefits and potential risks of algorithms. The CMA also offes recommendation to mitigate risks. The blogpost

Digital Competition Regimes

First commitments under the UK digital competition regime (mobile ecosystems)

Under the UK’s new digital competition regime, the CMA has decided not to impose conduct requirements on Google and Apple regarding their mobile ecosystems. Instead, the companies have offered commitments addressing app review processes, app ranking, data collection, and interoperability. The commitments

Antitrust

European Commission considers interim measures against Meta

In its ongoing investigation into the integration of Meta AI into WhatsApp, the European Commission has identified WhatsApp as a key gateway for general-purpose AI assistants. The Commission has preliminarily concluded that WhatsApp’s terms restricting third-party AI assistants’ access may raise barriers to entry and expansion, potentially marginalising smaller competitors. It is therefore considering adopting interim measures.

The Italian competition authority has already imposed such measures, requiring WhatsApp to maintain access for third-party AI assistants.

In response, Meta announced that it will amend its terms and introduce fees for developers operating in Europe. Europe. Italy. Announcement

French competition authority study on online video content creation

Online video content creators (“influencers”) play an increasingly important role in digital ecosystems, including social media and video-sharing platforms. The French competition authority has become the first authority to conduct a comprehensive examination of market dynamics and potential competition concerns relating to creators’ commercial relationships with platforms. The study