AI, Antitrust, and the Mirage of Data Dominance
Not all supposed barriers to entry are created equal. The ones that matter for antitrust are not just costs, advantages, or inputs controlled by leading firms. They are durable impediments that keep rivals from entering, expanding, and disciplining market power. That distinction matters in generative artificial intelligence (AI), where policymakers increasingly worry that control over data will entrench a small group of large technology firms.
My recent Albany Law Journal of Science and Technology article, “Is Data Really a Barrier to Entry? Rethinking Competition Regulation in Generative AI,” co-authored with Satya Marrar, challenges that assumption head-on. We argue that fears of data scarcity and monopolization are overstated—and that premature regulation may do more to stifle AI innovation than to protect competition. (See here for a March 2025 Mercatus Center Working Paper version of this article.)
Yes, data matters. But data is not destiny. Standing alone, it is not a sound basis for sweeping ex ante regulation or speculative antitrust attacks on generative AI markets.