The UK’s primary competition enforcement agency, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), recently published a discussion paper examining the competitive implications of agentic AI — autonomous systems capable of planning, deciding, and acting on behalf of consumers across multiple services — marking a significant escalation in the regulator’s scrutiny of AI-driven market conduct.
For those unfamiliar with the CMA’s work in this area, it is worth noting that the CMA explicitly identifies agentic AI as a potential step-change in how consumers interact with markets, with direct consequences for competition, consumer welfare, and the structure of digital ecosystems.[1]
In-house counsel at businesses developing, deploying, or procuring agentic AI systems may wish to treat this paper as an early indicator of the CMA’s enforcement and market investigation priorities in this space.