UK competition watchdog launches review of AI market

The UK competition watchdog has fired a shot across the bows of companies racing to commercialise artificial intelligence technology, announcing a review of the sector as fears grow over the spread of misinformation and major disruption in the jobs market.

In the US, the vice-president, Kamala Harris, has invited the chief executives of the leading AI firms ChatGPT, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet to the White House on Thursday to discuss how to deal with the safety concerns around the technology.

The disruption has spread to stock markets, with hundreds of millions of pounds wiped from the share price of the UK education company Pearson this week, after Chegg, a US provider of online help to students for writing and maths assignments, revised its financial forecasts and said ChatGPT was affecting customer growth.

The watchdog has been asked by ministers to consider how the development and use of AI can be supported against five principles: safety, transparency, fairness, accountability, and the ability of newcomers to challenge established players in AI.