Description

Opened Consultation on Inquiry on Generative AI Market Dynamics and Competition

On 2 October 2024, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) opened a public consultation on the rapidly evolving market of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and on its discussion paper on Generative AI and Competition. The consultation remains open for public feedback until 22 November 2024. According to the discussion paper, generative AI markets consist of three layers: infrastructure, models, and applications. The infrastructure layer includes computing resources (especially GPUs), data, and expertise. The model layer focuses on the development of generative AI models and is highly competitive. The application layer of the generative AI market is where businesses develop and offer AI products such as text, code, image, video, and audio generation. The paper highlights several cross-layer issues, particularly the reliance of AI developers on cloud services provided by major firms, changes in development environments, open-source vs close-sourced approaches, and the role of partnerships. The JFTC also identifies key competition concerns related to the Antimonopoly Act, including access restrictions, self-preferencing, and tying cloud services with specific AI models could limit market access for other developers.

Original source

Scope

Policy Area
Competition
Policy Instrument
Unilateral conduct regulation
Regulated Economic Activity
ML and AI development, platform intermediary: other, infrastructure provider: cloud computing, storage and databases
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
executive
Government Body
competition authority

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2024-10-02
in consultation

On 2 October 2024, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) opened a public consultation on the rapid…

2024-11-22
processing consultation

On 22 November 2024, the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) closed its public consultation on the r…

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