The Competition Authority imposed 167 million euros in fines in 2023, a total significantly lower than the 467.9 million fines in 2022 and 873.7 million in 2021, according to its president Benoît Coeuré. “This amount is lower than in previous years, but it does not indicate a decrease in activity” of the French competition watchdog, he said in a welcome speech delivered on Thursday and broadcast on Friday on the X network by the Authority.
“We have many cases pending that will lead to important decisions in 2024,” he added. In 2023, 37 contentious decisions were issued and the Authority made 266 merger control decisions, compared to 257 in 2022, its president detailed.
The challenges linked to AI in the headset in 2024
By 2024, the institution plans to publish an opinion on electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the spring and wants to better understand issues related to artificial intelligence (AI). “Artificial intelligence, in particular generative AI, occupies an increasing part of the debates among competition authorities,” Benoît Coeuré noted on Thursday. “It breaks into a landscape already dominated by powerful actors, who dominate or even control its essential ingredients: data, computing capacity and cloud services in particular.”
The competition watchdog’s general rapporteur has already carried out “search and seizure operations in the graphics card sector”.
Benoît Coeuré finally “welcomed” the intention of President Emmanuel Macron and the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, to “prepare an ‘Act II’ of a law for growth and activity.” “For the French economy to regain its dynamism and be able to face technological and climatic challenges, it is essential to keep intact the will to fight against rents and guarantee, through competition, an incentive for innovation. In 2024, the Authority will be a force of proposals on these issues,” he stated.
Source: BFM TV
