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

A group of Democratic senators has urged the FTC and Justice Department to investigate whether AI tools that summarize and recap online content such as news and recipes fall under anti-competitive practices.

In a letter to the agencies, the senators, led by Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), explained their position, saying the latest AI features are harming creators and publishers.

Journalistic outlets are experiencing unprecedented consolidation and layoffs, “Major online platforms, such as Google and Meta, generate billions of dollars in advertising revenue per year from news and other original content created by others. New generative AI features threaten to exacerbate these problems.”

The letter further stated:

Whereas traditional search results or news feed links might take users to the publisher’s website, an AI-generated summary keeps users on the original search platform, where that platform alone can profit from the user’s attention through advertising and data collection. […] Furthermore, some generative AI features misuse third-party content and present it as new content generated by the platform’s AI.

Publishers who wish to avoid having their content summarized as AI-generated search results can do so only if they opt out of being indexed for search altogether, resulting in a significant drop in referral traffic. In essence, these tools could pit content creators against each other without any means of profiting from AI-generated content created using their original content. This raises significant competitive concerns in the online marketplace for content and advertising revenue.

Essentially, the senators are saying that a handful of dominant companies control the market for monetizing original content through advertising, and those companies are rigging that market in their favor. Either you consent to having your articles, recipes, stories, and podcast transcripts indexed and used as raw material for AI, or you’re out of the loop.

The letter asks the FTC and DOJ to investigate whether these new practices “constitute a form of exclusionary conduct or an unfair method of competition that violates antitrust laws.”

While this is clearly a serious issue — and it affects this outlet — the FTC may have to come down hard on it here. While AI summarization of web content may offer highly imbalanced advantages, there are many power relationships in business and the media, and the bar for anti-competitive behavior is quite high.

For example, in this case, it would have to be shown that AI manufacturers have excessive market power and are using that power in ways specifically prohibited by law. Something can be unfair, unethical, and perfectly legal.

However, given how aggressive the FTC already is on these matters, it’s likely that Senator Klobuchar and her colleagues are simply preaching to the people before taking action themselves. Klobuchar, who has an eye on journalism and local newspapers, introduced a bill last year aimed at empowering the supply side of news licensing negotiations and giving news outlets a little more influence when asking Google or anyone else to pay for their content.

Jump ahead a year, and the concerns of 2022 and early 2023 seem quaint: The same companies accused of pressuring content providers are now, many argue, bypassing entire markets by feeding content to AI for summarization.

Asking regulators to crack down on undesirable industry behavior is part of the paper trail left by legislators when trying to pass legislation. If the FTC and DOJ find they can’t act, this allows the signers of this letter to propose a new law to get those agencies to act. While last year’s paper-saving bill didn’t go very far, a new bill tied to fears about AI overlords might do better — certainly a good issue for an election cycle.

The letter 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).