Major monopoly risk in the AI sector?

U.S. antitrust regulator Jonathan Kanter will investigate America's artificial intelligence (AI) sector over concerns about a few companies that have too much control, notably NVIDIA.

US official wants to prevent AI monopoly

According to Kanter, the AI sector urgently needs to take action to ensure that the already dominant technology companies do not have sole control over the market. The official said regulators are concerned that AI “is at the height of competition, not at the bottom.”

The driver also said that real-time intervention may be the most useful. “The great thing about it is that you can be less invasive,” he added.

GPUs and NVIDIA's role

Kanter emphasized that the graphics processing units (GPUs) used to train large language models (LLMs) have become scarce. The official said antitrust regulators are also looking into how chip manufacturers allocate their sophisticated products as demand increases.

On May 23, GPU provider Nvidia released its Q1 earnings report, showing that sales rose by 262% from a year ago. After the report was released, the company's share price rose to a new record high of $1,007, raising its valuation above $2.5 trillion.

Government programs and grants

Kanter said there are already government programs to boost production. This includes the subsidies that are provided for chip production. In 2022, the Chips and Science Act was signed, allocating $39 billion in subsidies for chip production in the country.

Concerns about AI monopoly

In 2023, SingularityNET COO Janet Adams expressed concern about Big Tech companies pursuing a monopoly on artificial general intelligence (AGI), a conceptual version of AI that can think and develop like a human being.

In an interview, Adams said that the “dystopian” future that many imagine with AI could happen if the technology becomes monopolized. The executive believes that these big companies will use the technology “for the profit of a few” and won't lead the world away from inequalities.

To prevent the worst, the director believes it is important to decentralize the development of AI using blockchain technology.

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