Today, The App Association released its latest white paper and research examining how policymakers can help preserve America’s global leadership in artificial intelligence innovation. Antitrust at a Crossroads: Protecting Innovation in the AI Era provides a landscape analysis of the global AI ecosystem and a detailed overview of practical applications for the technology today and in the near future, before concluding with guidance for policymakers.

“As the global AI race continues to intensify, it’s essential that the United States remain at the forefront of AI development. This tech has such a broad range of applications, from national security to healthcare to agriculture – the stakes are too high for us to cede ground in AI innovation,” said Morgan Reed, president of ACT | The App Association. “This report provides policymakers with a blueprint to build a policy environment that will both preserve our innovation edge, and ensure Americans reap the full benefits of AI.”

In the paper, the App Association outlines three crucial principles for policymakers that, if followed, would assure continued American leadership on the frontier of AI:

  1. Rely on the applicability of existing laws to harms that may result from use, development, or deployment of AI systems.
  2. Safeguard smaller rivals’ access to capital and investment, including via mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
  3. Avoid antitrust claims that seek to outlaw conduct based on speculative harms or that seek remedies to drastically restrict important curated online marketplace (COM) management functions.

This paper comes at an important moment as policymakers in the United States and across the globe are considering policy and regulatory responses to shape this swiftly evolving technology. Generative AI has seen rapid adoption, with nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults using it, a growth rate significantly faster than personal computers or the internet. The question for policymakers is not whether to prepare for AI’s arrival, but how to engage with a revolutionary technology.

AI technology has seen rapid private capital investment, with U.S. startups secured an overwhelming share of global AI venture funding in 2024. Despite this growth and early leadership from the United States, some policymakers are proposing preemptive actions, in the style of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which would hinder innovation by restricting critical M&A activity and regulations that add costly burdens on small app developers.

The App Association released the paper during a Capital Hill briefing for Members of Congress. The event opened with remarks from Representative Jay Obernolte (R-CA-23) followed by a panel discussion moderated by the App Association’s Kedhar Sankararaman and featuring:

  • Scott Weiner, AI Lead and Chief Technology Officer at NeuEon, Inc, and Member of ACT | The App Association
  • Andrei Papancea, Founder of NLX AI
  • Jessica Melugin, Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute
  • Christopher Yoo, Imasogie Professor in Law & Technology, Communication, and Computer & Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania

Download the full white paper at: Antitrust at a Crossroads: Protecting Innovation in the AI Era

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