On November 29, 2024, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) concluded that Microsoft’s hiring of nearly all of Inflection AI, Inc.’s (“Inflection”) employees together with agreements on financing and the use of Inflection’s intellectual property amounted to a “concentration” under German merger control law. However, due to the lack of “substantial domestic operations” at the time of
On December 2, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced two companion rules to impede China’s ability to procure and produce advanced-node semiconductors that can be used in advanced weapons systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced computing.
In response, China announced that it will in principle ban exports of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard
On November 14, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Antitrust Division (the “Division”) released guidance for the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs in Criminal Antitrust Investigations (the “Guidance”). The Guidance will be used by the Division in assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of a company’s antitrust compliance program when making a charging or resolution
On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump was projected to retake the White House and become the United States’ 47th president. The Senate is also projected to be Republican controlled; the House of Representatives remains too close to call.
Based on insights from his first administration and his campaign promises, the following are a few key
On October 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury issued its long-awaited final rule (Final Rule) implementing an outbound investment security program. Stemming from Executive Order 14105 (Outbound Order), the new program targets U.S. investment in China, Hong Kong, and Macau related to a defined set of technologies and products that pose
On September 17, 2024, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the structure of the new Commission and her nominees to serve as Commissioners for the upcoming 5-year term (2024-2029). Each of these nominees will be scrutinized and need to be confirmed by the EU Parliament in the coming weeks.
On September 9, 2024, Mario Draghi, former President of the European Central Bank and former Italian Prime Minister, presented his report on the Future of European Competitiveness (the “Report”), with the objective to inform the work of the incoming Commission. Featured in President von der Leyen’s Political Guidelines issued in July,[2] and in several
Almost eight months since taking full effect, the EU’s enforcement agenda for the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) is coming into focus. The European Commission (EC) has launched several in-depth and ex officio cases, and reviewed over 150 notifications.
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming businesses around the world, offering unprecedented opportunities for innovation and economic prosperity. However, it also presents unique challenges for competition authorities tasked with ensuring fair and efficient markets. In response, the competition authorities such as the Canadian Competition Bureau, the UK Competition and Market Authority (CMA), the
On 11 April 2024, the CMA published an update paper (the Update Paper) in relation to its initial review of AI Foundation Models (FMs). An accompanying technical update report (the Technical Update Report) was published on 16 April 2024, providing further detail on market developments and feedback from stakeholder engagement. These updates follow the CMA’s