The UK’s competition watchdog has launched a review of the UK’s AI market.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that it would investigate competition and consumer protection considerations in the development of AI foundation models.

Foundation models are “ultra-large” machine learning models that include language models and the generative AI technology used by ChatGPT.

The CMA said the review will explore how these models are developing and "produce an assessment of the conditions and principles that will best guide the development of foundation models and their use in the future".

The move comes after the government asked regulators, including the CMA, to investigate how AI can be supported against five principles: safety, security, and robustness ; appropriate transparency and explainability; fairness; accountability and governance; and contestability and redress.

CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said that the technology had been on the regulator's radar for “some time”.

“It’s crucial that the potential benefits of this transformative technology are readily accessible to UK businesses and consumers while people remain protected from issues like false or misleading information,” she said. “Our goal is to help this new, rapidly scaling technology develop in ways that ensure open, competitive markets and effective consumer protection.”

The authority is seeking views and evidence from stakeholders by 2 June 2023.

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