AI Safety Collaboration And Antitrust: Lessons From Recent Enforcer Statements And Cybersecurity Information Sharing

Key Takeaways

• Current and former federal antitrust officials have expressed skepticism that AI companies need a special antitrust exemption to cooperate on safety.
• DOJ’s reported consideration of updated guidance, together with its existing business-review process, offers a possible path for companies seeking greater certainty about defined safety collaborations.
• The 2014 cybersecurity policy statement provides a useful model for technical threat and vulnerability sharing, but it does not necessarily resolve coordination concerning AI development pace, output, capabilities, or release timing.
• The labor-exemption analogy underscores the need to distinguish statutory exemptions from agency guidance, safe harbors, advisory opinions, and enforcement discretion.