FTC Chair Lina Khan says AI may “turbocharge” fraud, be used to “squash competitors”

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan is main the Biden administration’s cost towards large tech firms allegedly trying to gobble up the competitors. 

One space Khan is concentrated on is artificial intelligence, which she believes is an rising risk to the American shopper. 

“We’re seeing dangers that AI might be used to turbocharge fraud and scams,” she informed CBS Information. 

“We’re additionally trying to be vigilant to make sure that we do not see anti-competitive practices or unfair strategies of competitors the place among the bigger companies which have a bonus on this market usually are not utilizing that energy to squash competitors,” she stated.  

Since President Biden appointed Khan to chair the FTC in 2021, making her the youngest particular person to ever maintain the place at 32,  she has taken on trillion-dollar companies together with tech giants Amazon, Microsoft and Meta. She argues that greater is not all the time higher — for the little man.

“When you’ve open markets, you need them to be contestable, which implies that the prevailing giants need to be inclined to competitors,” stated Khan. 

She stated “there are an entire set of antitrust lawsuits underway proper now … that allege … a few of these firms have engaged in anti-competitive techniques which have unfairly blocked competitors.”

The FTC, she stated, is on “the entrance strains” of defending the American public from illegal enterprise practices, fraud and scams. It additionally works to guard folks “from monopoly energy that may result in increased costs, decrease wages, much less innovation.” 

This 12 months, federal judges handed the FTC high-profile defeats in instances towards Microsoft and Meta. 

Khan stated regardless of the high-profiles losses, she is “very happy with the wins” that the FTC has had each in blocking mergers and in suing to stop anti-competitive conduct.

Final month, the FTC filed a lawsuit against Amazon, accusing the corporate of a years-long effort to enroll customers into Prime with out their consent and making it tough for them to cancel the subscription.

Amazon stated the FTC”s claims are “false on the details and the regulation” and that “by design” it made it “clear and easy for purchasers to each join or cancel their Prime membership.” It additionally pointed to excessive buyer satisfaction.

“The objective is de facto to be guaranteeing that our markets are open, that if there’s a new agency with a good suggestion, perhaps even a greater thought, that they don’t seem to be being locked out of the market,” Khan stated. 

At problem is whether or not to test firms earlier than they get too huge or after they’ve. Tech giants say not solely are they not monopolies, however technological change means they will all the time be open to competitors. 

Khan can also be working to eradicate non-compete clauses in employment contracts, which anybody from quick meals employees and healthcare employees to engineers and journalists may have. Such clauses can restrict employees’ potential to get one other job with higher wages and advantages.

John Dickerson

John Dickerson studies for 60 Minutes as a correspondent and contributes to CBS Information election specials. Previous to that, he was the co-host of “CBS This Morning” and served as CBS Information’ chief Washington correspondent and anchor of “Face The Nation.” Dickerson can also be a contributor to Slate’s “Political Gabfest”, a contributing editor to The Atlantic, and the writer of “On Her Trail” and “Whistlestop: My Favorite Stories from Presidential Campaign History.”