Prof G Markets Why AI Needs Antitrust Intervention — ft. Jonathan Kanter
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Oct 17, 2025 
Jonathan Kanter, former Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, discusses the urgent need for antitrust action in the AI landscape. He highlights risks from dominant players like Google and Microsoft and their cross-investments that threaten competition. Kanter also warns of market concentration impacting sectors like healthcare and energy. He addresses the Ticketmaster lawsuit and the public's rising discontent with capitalism, advocating for pro-competition policies to restore consumer trust.
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AI Funding Echoes Old Trusts
- Modern AI funding mirrors the trusts that prompted early U.S. antitrust laws, creating interdependent corporate tentacles.
- Jonathan Kanter warns this circular investment network risks behaving like a single firm and undermines competition.
Resiliency Risk From Concentration
- Interdependence creates resiliency risk: failure of one dominant firm can cascade across the economy.
- Kanter argues competition drives better safety, accuracy, innovation, and broader reinvestment into the U.S. economy.
CapEx Concentration Limits Broader Gains
- Big CapEx in data centers exists, but much of the value and jobs accrue to a few firms and offshore cash.
- Kanter notes circular payments and buybacks divert capital away from broad U.S. reinvestment.